Firsts and oldest

The first, oldest or only one of its kind in Canada, its province or its region.

Historic places
1,212Historic places
Built
1500–2000Built
Provinces and territories
13Provinces and territories

Recognized by

  • National 253
  • Provincial 422
  • Territorial 5
  • Municipal 532
Photographs from the register, credited on each place’s page.

Where they are

  • British Columbia193
  • Ontario180
  • Quebec149
  • Nova Scotia130
  • Saskatchewan109
  • Newfoundland and Labrador102
  • Alberta98
  • New Brunswick98
  • Manitoba94
  • Prince Edward Island44
  • Nunavut6
  • Yukon5
  • Northwest Territories4

Towns with the most

Built over time

The most were built in the 1910s: 137 of the 1,018 with a known date.

The oldest

  1. 1500Lawson SiteLondon, Ontario
  2. 1550Southwold Earthworks National Historic Site of CanadaSouthwold, Ontario
  3. 1605Annapolis Royal Historic District National Historic Site of CanadaAnnapolis Royal, Nova Scotia

The register gives no construction date for 194 of these places.

Who designed them

The register names an architect or designer for 465 of these 1,212 places. These names come up most often.

Names marked ↗ open their entry in the Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800–1950.

  1. Storey and Van Egmond7 places
  2. Thomas Fuller (biography, opens in a new tab)6 places
  3. David Ewart (biography, opens in a new tab)5 places
  4. Department of Public Works5 places
  5. Darling and Pearson5 places
  6. R.B. Pratt (biography, opens in a new tab)5 places

All 1,212 places

Often found together

Collections that share the most places with this one.

Every collection