Transfer stewardship of Canadian Register
Petitioners ask the Government of Canada to transfer stewardship of the Canadian Register of Historic Places to the National Trust for Canada and provide a one-time federal endowment to permanently stabilize and modernize it.
Why we would sign this petition
- Keeps a single, public, pan-Canadian record available for planners, educators and the public, preventing fragmentation and loss of search access.
- Assigns the Register to the National Trust, a national charity focused on preserving historic places, aligning stewardship with preservation expertise.
- Provides a one-time federal endowment to stabilize and modernize hosting, data sovereignty, bilingualism and accessibility, improving long-term usability.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Moving stewardship to a charity could reduce direct federal oversight and raises questions about public accountability and long-term governance.
- A single, one-time endowment may not guarantee sustainable funding for ongoing operations, updates and technical needs.
- Alternative approaches—continued federal hosting, shared governance, or legislative protections—might better secure neutrality, standards and continuity.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the Government of Canada The Canadian Register of Historic Places (the Register) is the only pan-Canadian, publicly accessible record of more than 13,500 historic places recognized by federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal authorities; The Register is relied upon by planners, architects, developers, educators, and the public as an authoritative source of information about Canada's historic places; The federal government has stepped back from hosting and operating the Register, and it now faces imminent decommissioning; Losing the Register would fragment a nationally significant public data set, eliminate public access and search functionality, and create a lasting reputational and operational risk for the federal government; Canada's historic places, from Indigenous landscapes and lighthouses to the homes, workplaces and public spaces of past and future Canadians, embody our shared stories, national identity, institutions, and traditions, and deserve to be preserved for generations to come; The National Trust for Canada is uniquely positioned to steward the Register as Canada’s only national charity dedicated to preserving and promoting historic places; and A renewed Canadian Register of Historic Places could embed Canadian-based hosting and data sovereignty, accessibility to all Canadians, bilingualism and reconciliation principles. We, the undersigned, Citizens or residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to transfer stewardship of the Canadian Register of Historic Places to the National Trust for Canada and provide a one-time federal endowment to permanently stabilize and modernize it.
Government response
No government response is available yet.