The cultural heritage of the National Capital Region is a visible record of an important part of the Canadian story. It symbolizes our identity and gives us a sense of ourselves as a nation.
Cultural heritage includes: landscapes, buildings, monuments, archaeological sites and collections, documents and records.
The NCC has an important role to play in protecting cultural resources and managing them as part of Canada’s legacy. This involves:
- reviewing all proposals for work or alterations to federal heritage buildings and sites through the federal land use, design and transaction approval process
- managing over 70 designated federal heritage buildings in the National Capital Region, as well as six national historic sites
- managing the official residences, which are some of the most significant heritage properties in the country
- recognizing cultural landscapes, which link human history with certain landscapes in the Capital Region
- managing archaeological resources on federal lands in the National Capital Region
- supporting commemorations and public art as an important means of capturing and communicating our heritage
- working closely with the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office (FHBRO) on projects and evaluations concerning properties in the National Capital Region
- recognizing cultural landscapes, which link human history and our landscape, capturing the relationship between humans and the environment
In our work, we rely mainly on the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada to guide the management of our heritage resources.