Provincial & Federal Registers
Last updated on July 25, 2024Historic Places
Historic places include the buildings, neighbourhoods, trails and cultural landscapes that provide a sense of place and contribute to BC's unique identity. They serve as touchstones to memory and catalysts for community revitalization. Formal recognition on provincial and federal registers builds awareness of our shared heritage.
BC Register of Historic Places
The BC Register of Historic Places is part of the provincial heritage register of historic and archaeological sites that exists as a statutory requirement of the Heritage Conservation Act. The BC Register of Historic Places is a subset of the records on the provincial heritage register database, and is the province’s official list of post-1846 historic places that have been formally recognized by the Province or by a local government.
The BC Register of Historic Places supports land use decisions, heritage conservation projects, and public awareness initiatives. The database contains over 5,000 entries representing the diversity of historic places across the province. Archaeological sites are not included in the BC Register - contact the Archaeology Branch for information about archaeology in BC.
Local Government Historic Places on the BC Register
Under the Local Government Act and the Vancouver Charter, local governments can formally recognize places with local or regional significance, primarily through municipal designation and community heritage register listings. Local governments are required to notify the province of all newly-recognized municipal historic places so that they can be added to the BC Register.
Local governments can find information on how to submit notifications of heritage property on the Local Government Planning page.
Provincial Historic Places on the BC Register
Under the Heritage Conservation Act, the province can protect historic places with provincial-level heritage significance in several ways, primarily through designation as Provincial heritage property (Crown land) or Provincial heritage sites (non-Crown land).
In British Columbia, there are over 50 provincial heritage designations for historic places under the Heritage Conservation Act.
There are also over 100 provincial recognition project sites. Learn more about the Provincial Historic Places Recognition Program.
Federal Government Historic Places on the BC Register
The federal government has responsibility for national-level formal recognition. National Historic Sites and other federal recognitions are not officially part of the BC Register, but may be noted in the database.
BCRHP Database
Launching Summer 2024: The BCRHP database provides broad access to information about registered historic places to increase awareness, commemoration, and conservation of B.C.’s heritage resources.
The BCRHP database is built on Arches, an open-source data management platform for the heritage field. The system has powerful search and analytic capabilities that allow users to explore and generate reports on historic places in the province.
Users can identify historic places by keyword, name, address, or by using the interactive map. Learn about a historic place’s heritage status and significance through their details page. Featured searches are available to browse sites by theme. Instructions are provided in PDF and video formats and are available on the landing page. There are options to do advanced searches and spatial analysis to generate csv reports and shapefiles.
Note about data quality: BCRHP is dependent on receiving notifications of heritage properties from local governments and regional districts. For this reason, not every historic place is included on the register. Please contact the appropriate local government or regional district directly for the most up-to-date information on historic places in their jurisdictions.
Canadian Register of Historic Places
The Canadian Register of Historic Places is a searchable database of historic places across Canada that have been recognized for their heritage value by local, provincial, territorial and federal governments. The database and website are hosted by Parks Canada on behalf of all the participating jurisdictions.
Historic places from the BC Register that are fully documented, including a Statement of Significance, are added to the Canadian Register of Historic Places by the BC Registrar in Heritage Branch. Listing on the Canadian Register supports celebration of Canada’s historic places, public education and tourism development but does not provide additional protection or National Historic Site status.
Contact information
250-356-1432