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Expanding the narrative
Expanding the narrative
This is part of a broader conversation about whose history is being told, about gender, people of colour and the economically disenfranchised, and others whose stories have been overlooked or intentionally omitted from the authorized discussion.
Food
Francophone heritage
Indigenous heritage
Intangible heritage
Intangible heritage
Intangible cultural heritage includes language, traditions, music, food, special skills, etc.
Medical heritage
Military heritage
MyOntario
Natural heritage
Sport heritage
Tools for conservation
Women's heritage

Living Room, by Amanda McCavour (Photo: Agata Piskunowicz)

Welcome to the new Heritage Matters!

Explore past issues of our magazine in this new digital format.

Photo: Richard Adams

Not just another pretty façade

Check out the many stories published by the Ontario Heritage Trust about buildings and architecture — from adaptive re-use and conservation activities to iconic structures and the economic impact of heritage ...

A provincial plaque was unveiled in 2010 as part of the Emancipation Day event at Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site in Dresden to commemorate Hugh Burnett and the National Unity Association.

Setting the record straight — Updating four Black history plaques

By Beth Hanna. I’d like to tell you about Solomon Moseby. In 1837, Moseby fled to Niagara to escape slavery in Kentucky. When his extradition back to the United States was approved, members of the Niagara community mobilized to protest his return to slavery ...

Peaches from Niagara-on-the-Lake (Photo: Hubert Kang, Destination Ontario)

Food for thought

See how the Trust has explored our connections with food — as well as the history of food culture — through these articles …

Latest features

Pages from The Cook Not Mad; Or Rational Cookery book.

15 Aug 2023
Food

A recipe for early Canadian culinary identity

Food, cooking and eating as universal experiences have always been an important part of our identity. As a necessity for survival, food knowledge, traditions and techniques have been taught, learned, changed and passed down between family members, friends and strangers for generations, forming the distinct flavour profiles and defining cuisines that we are familiar with today. Recipes have long since been the vessels for the transportation of this knowledge, with some of the earliest recipes...

Josiah Henson (Photo: Schlesinger Library, Harvard University)

27 Jul 2022
Expanding the narrative
Black heritage

Celebrating Josiah – Introducing the Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History

“I’ll use my freedom well.” Josiah Henson made this promise to Captain Burnham, who helped him and his family in the last part of their...

21 Apr 2022
Expanding the narrative
Black heritage

Setting the record straight – Updating four Black history plaques

I’d like to tell you about Solomon Moseby. In 1837, Moseby fled to Niagara to escape slavery in Kentucky. When his extradition back to the...

The Canadian Niagara Power Generating Station was opened for a special Doors Open weekend on October 26-27, 2019. (Photo: Niagara Parks)

01 Oct 2019
Economics of heritage
Buildings and architecture
Community

How Doors Open Ontario activates the province’s communities

The Ontario Heritage Trust’s Doors Open Ontario program works with communities and partners to open the doors, gates and courtyards of Ontario’s most unique and...

Children from Pelee Island Pubic School helping to collect seeds for restoration projects

01 Oct 2019
Economics of heritage
Environment

Conserving what we value

It was my time to finally get my message across. About 15 years ago, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) was beginning to purchase properties...

Woodstock Public Library (Photo: Dudek Photography)

Doors Open Ontario

Discover the story behind every door!

Start planning your excursion today.

selectedstories

Volcano Pizzeria Restaurant (Photo: Museum Windsor)

Sep 08, 2017
Intangible heritage
Food
Author: Erin Semande

The proof is in the pizza

Around the lunch table at my office, I talk a lot about my experiences growing up outside of Windsor, Ontario – working at Chrysler, being a border city with Detroit, and some of the local specialties, in particular, pizza. Windsor-style pizza is unique to the region and has been a mainstay in my life – family parties, lazy Friday nights and even the midnight snack at many Windsor weddings. Since moving to Toronto, I’ve noticed...

Pulling a pint of beer (Photo: Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership)

Lost breweries of Toronto

As an artifact, beer can tell you a lot about the culture that develops it. Take Molson Canadian as an example. That brand sums up a period of time and a set of attitudes about what it meant to be Canadian. Judging by the commercials I grew up with, that included the vehement rejection of imposed stereotypes and the ability to jersey an office co-worker. It’s hard to conceive of beer out of nothing. Toronto’s...

MacNab-Charles heritage conservation district

Oct 01, 2019
Economics of heritage
Buildings and architecture
Community
Author: Paul Shaker

The economic value of heritage districts: How assessment growth in heritage conservation districts compares with non-designated areas in Hamilton

There are competing views about the value of heritage properties. On the one hand, there is a growing consensus on the esthetic and economic development value of heritage buildings in an urban landscape. On the other hand, a perception persists that designating buildings or districts under the Ontario Heritage Act decreases the value of properties. Our team of planners and data geeks at Civicplan sought to analyze the validity of the latter perception by looking...

Oct 01, 2019
Economics of heritage
Buildings and architecture
Community
Author: Erin Semande

Case study: Brockville Railway Tunnel

Location: 1 Block House Island Road, BrockvilleOwner: City of BrockvillePartners: Brockville Railway Tunnel Committee (plus countless generous donors)Original use: Canada’s first railway tunnel and part of the Brockville and Ottawa (B&O) RailwayCurrent use: Publicly accessible pedestrian railway tunnel The Brockville Railway Tunnel runs half a kilometre (525 metres or 1,722 feet) underneath downtown Brockville from the waterfront to Pearl Street. Constructed from 1854-60, the tunnel was a major feat of engineering for its time. The...

Food

A recipe for early Canadian culinary identity

Food, cooking and eating as universal experiences have always been an important part of our identity. As a necessity for survival, food knowledge, traditions and...

Expanding the narrative
Black heritage

Celebrating Josiah – Introducing the Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History

“I’ll use my freedom well.” Josiah Henson made this promise to Captain Burnham, who helped him and his family in the last part of their...

Expanding the narrative
Black heritage

Setting the record straight – Updating four Black history plaques

I’d like to tell you about Solomon Moseby. In 1837, Moseby fled to Niagara to escape slavery in Kentucky. When his extradition back to the...

Buildings and architecture
Cultural objects

The Homewood collection

As you drive east along Highway 2 between Brockville and Prescott, you will find the robust Georgian Homewood Museum deeply set back from the road...

Buildings and architecture

Trent University under the modernist microscope

Throughout the developed world, attention is being given to the built heritage of the modern era. Organizations such as UNESCO's World Heritage Center, the International...

The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre (Toronto). In 1987, a basement is excavated under the lobby corridor, and the grand staircase is suspended in the air.

Buildings and architecture
Tools for conservation

Working with superstructures: The framework for Ontario's heritage buildings

Last issue, we discussed the importance of a solid foundation when preserving heritage structures. In this issue, we see how a buildingʼs skeleton holds everything...

Buildings and architecture

Leidra Lodge – A new conservation easement

June Ardiel has been a patron and leader in Ontario's arts community all her life. She has authored a book on the public art of...

Natural heritage

Visiting the Cheltenham Badlands

Nestled on the Niagara Escarpment amid the rolling countryside of the Caledon Hills lies a unique landscape locally known as the Cheltenham Badlands. The site...