About Heritage Guide
Why we saved a copy of the register.
For more than twenty years, Canada’s governments recorded the places they formally recognize in one national register. In December 2025, Parks Canada told the provinces and territories it would take that register offline. Heritage Guide preserves all 13,554 entries, word for word, so anyone can still find them.
An entry from the register
Photo: Ian Doull, Parks Canada Agency, 2010
Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site of Canada
Colwood, British Columbia
Fisgard Lighthouse and its light keeper’s residence comprises a two-storey residence with attached cylindrical light-tower, located on Fisgard Island on the east side of the entrance to Esquimault Harbour, just north of Juan de Fuca Strait.
- Recognition
- National Historic Site of Canada
- Authority
- Government of Canada
- Statute
- Historic Sites and Monuments Act
- Recognized
- November 3, 1958
The register
One register for every order of government.
The Canadian Register of Historic Places went online in 2004. It brought together, in one searchable list, the historic places formally recognized by the federal government, the provinces and territories, and municipalities across the country.
Each entry explains why a place matters: a description, a statement of heritage value, and the character-defining elements that make the place what it is, with the law and the date under which it was recognized.
“Places that shape our lives, describe our history, and represent the diverse character of our country.”
- entries
- 13,554entries
- provinces and territories
- 13provinces and territories
- online since
- 2004online since
- last update
- 2025last update
The record so far
What happened, and when.
The Canadian Register of Historic Places goes online, gathering places recognized by every order of government.
Source: CBC NewsThe register’s last update, according to Parks Canada’s open-data record.
Source: Open Government PortalParks Canada tells the provinces and territories that the register will be taken down in spring 2026, and that any replacement would cover only federally designated places.
Source: CBC NewsHeritage Guide goes live, within a day of CBC’s first report on the shutdown, and offers to give the site to the government if it decides to rescue the register.
Source: CBC Newshistoricplaces.ca is still online, carrying a Parks Canada warning that its information may be out of date.
Source: Parks Canada
Each entry links to its source.
In Parks Canada’s own words
Information may be out of date. The Canadian Register of Historic Places has not been fully updated in recent years.
How the records are kept
What we copied and what we added.
Word for word
Every description appears exactly as the register published it. In French, we show only the register’s own French text; we don’t publish machine translations.
Easy to find
Every place with coordinates is on one map. You can also find places by name, by town or by what’s near you.
Our additions, labelled
Collections and the “Enhanced” notes on place pages are Heritage Guide’s work, assigned by software that reads each description. They are marked as additions and are not part of the official record.
Independent
Heritage Guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Parks Canada or any government. It is a free public service.
From the register, unchanged
- Name and address
- Description, heritage value and character-defining elements
- Recognition: type, authority, statute and date
- Photographs and their credits
- Map coordinates
Added by Heritage Guide
- The map and near me
- Town and city pages
- Collections
- Search by meaning as well as exact words
- The interface, in English and French
What isn’t here: changes made after December 12, 2025. For a place’s current status, check with the government that designated it.
What happens next
The offer to the government still stands.
Whether the register returns as an official, updated record is the government’s decision. If it chooses to restore the register, it can have this site, free. Until then, every record remains available here.
“If the government changes course and decides to rescue the initiative, I’m happy to even give them the website.”Who made this
Stephen Taylor
Toronto
Stephen Taylor is a civil society advocate and public affairs consultant based in Toronto. He has dedicated his career to strengthening democratic institutions and civic engagement across Canada. His work spans public policy, digital advocacy, and capacity building for non-profit organizations. Stephen believes strongly that cultural heritage belongs to all Canadians and should be freely accessible.
Sources
- 1CBC News, January 25, 2026Report on the register’s planned shutdown
- 2CBC News, January 31, 2026Parks Canada planned to delete a heritage website — but one proud Canadian hit ‘Save’
- 3Parks CanadaCanadian Register of Historic Places
- 4Open Government PortalFederal designations from the register, extracted December 12, 2025
- 5The original registerhistoricplaces.ca