Browse by category
- Adaptive reuse
- Archaeology
- Arts and creativity
- Black heritage
- Buildings and architecture
- Communication
- Community
- Cultural landscapes
- Cultural objects
- Design
- Economics of heritage
- Environment
- Expanding the narrative
- Food
- Francophone heritage
- Indigenous heritage
- Intangible heritage
- Medical heritage
- Military heritage
- MyOntario
- Natural heritage
- Sport heritage
- Tools for conservation
- Women's heritage
- Home
- Adaptive reuse
- Archaeology
- Arts and creativity
- Black heritage
- Buildings and architecture
- Communication
- Community
- Cultural landscapes
- Cultural objects
- Design
- Economics of heritage
- Environment
- 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
Celebrating the Chinguacousy Badlands
The Chinguacousy (“land of the young pines”) Badlands have been visited by hundreds of thousands of Ontarians. This rapidly eroding clay-shale bedrock at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment is a unique natural heritage feature in the province. As a designated Area of Natural and Scientific Interest, and as a landscape featured in hundreds of promotional campaigns (most recently in the Ontario “Where Am I” campaign), it is well worth celebrating in 2017!
RelatedStories
- 17 Feb 2017
- Buildings and architecture
MyOntario - Author: Kevin Mannara,
What was and what will be
The term symbolkirchen can roughly be translated as a “symbol bearing church.” Such churches point to living realities beyond ourselves and hold the potential to...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Natural heritage
- Author: Muhammad Qureshi,
Our natural fingerprint
The magic began on a cold autumn afternoon after a hockey game with friends. I was walking home through a trail and the leaves had...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Jim Szilva,
A nickel and a prayer
In 1963, a firefighter named Ted Szilva entered a contest organized by the Canadian Centennial Committee in Sudbury. The committee asked residents of the city...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: James Raffan,
On Cranberry Lake
Afloat at dawn and inhaling the misty rays of rising late-summer sun. Other days, it might be a sunset paddle with a Thermos of coffee...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Melanie Pledger,
Learning from the past
I’m proud to be a Canadian. I’m also proud to be an Ontarian. Going one step further, I’m proud to be a Falcon. In 2014...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: David Onley,
Thoughts about Ontario at 150
The photo became an heirloom in our family: a picture of Her Majesty the Queen at Kew Gardens in The Beach, escorted by Toronto Maple...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Black heritage
MyOntario - Author: Holly Martelle,
Hopes for the future
My life as an archaeologist often consists of hour upon hour of painstaking analysis of small bits and pieces of everyday life. But last year...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Indigenous heritage
Archaeology
MyOntario - Author: Jean-Luc Pilon,
The gift of time travel
In the summer of 1982, I was carrying out archaeological research near the shores of Hudson Bay on the Severn River. One of the sites...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Buildings and architecture
MyOntario - Author: Georges Quirion,
Ontario’s rich industrial history
Northern Ontario has unique structures, not familiar to many, spread out through small northern communities, reflecting its rich history and its vast wealth of precious...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Indigenous heritage
MyOntario - Author: Konrad Sioui,
The heart of North America
There are many stories that we can share. Well, first of all, the word “Ontario” itself. Many people don’t know what it means. People try...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Expanding the narrative
MyOntario - Author: David Rayside,
Making history
At 6 p.m. on December 2, 1986, Ontario’s legislative assembly was scheduled to vote on adding “sexual orientation” to the province’s Human Rights Code. Ten...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Archaeology
MyOntario - Author: William R. Fitzgerald,
A divine intersection of history and archaeology
Suspicion, fear, and intimidation met Jesuit priests Jean de Brébeuf and Pierre-Joseph-Marie Chaumonot during their Mission of the Angels to “la Nation Neutre” between November...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Eleanor McMahon,
A Place to Stand
As Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, I’ve had the privilege to meet many proud, talented and hardworking Ontarians through my participation in a number...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Natural heritage
MyOntario - Author: Steve Paikin,
Heaven on earth
A month before Ontario turns 150 years old, I’ll celebrate my 57th birthday. I’ve lived all but one of those years in the province of...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Scarlett Janusas,
Underwater archaeology
I’ve always had a passion about archaeology and also about water. I love being on the water and under it. So, what better way to...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Natural heritage
MyOntario - Author: Yannick Bisson,
Reconnecting with nature
My first visit to Ontario, from Québec, was at about age 8. I have a distinct memory of arriving by car down the Don Valley...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Deepa Mehta,
Ontario’s rich diversity
When I think of Ontario, I think of inclusion, diversity and the resulting richness it brings to our province. In a world that is becoming...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Indigenous heritage
MyOntario - Author: Josephine Mandamin,
Walking with the water
When we walk with the water, we pray for the water. The water that we carry, we pray for it, and we pray to it...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Francophone heritage
MyOntario - Author: Joëlle Roy,
Descendants de la Vallée du Saint-Laurent
Il est parti au chantierY avait à peine 15 ansY a moyen de s’en sortirPour ça, faut faire d’l’argentY en a en Ontario sous la...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Ellen Scheinberg,
Celebrating the history of Toronto’s Jewish cemeteries
Over the past decade, I have developed a passion for cemeteries. It started during my tenure as Director of the Ontario Jewish Archives, when I...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Archaeology
MyOntario - Author: Dr. Patrick Julig,
Reflections on ancient quarry sites of northern Ontario
In the 1980s-90s, I excavated at Cummins and Sheguiandah National Historic Site quarry/ workshops in northern Ontario – in addition to many neat places elsewhere...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell,
The conscience of our province
Ontario’s Legislative Building, completed in 1893, is a magnificent structure filled with stories from the most significant moments in our province’s modern history. The place...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Indigenous heritage
Buildings and architecture
MyOntario - Author: R. Donald Maracle,
Christ Church, Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal of the Mohawk – Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
During the American Revolution, the Mohawks were forced to flee their homeland in upper New York State. In 1784, after spending several years in Lachine...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Larry Richards,
Ontario trains
My first views of Ontario were from a passenger train 45 years ago. In 1972, I crossed the border at Detroit and took a train...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Charlie Fairbank,
An enduring landscape
Each morning, I open the door of our farmhouse and step into an enduring landscape of beauty, shaped by horse and man. Sheep dot the...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: David P. Silcox,
My Ontario is …
MY ONTARIO IS: RosalieAbella, RobertAitken, AndréAlexis, LouApplebaum, MargaretAtwood, IainBaxter&, StanBevington, BillBissett, JeanBoggs, DaveBroadfoot, EdBurtynsky, JackBush, JackCostello, DavidCrombie, KikiDelaney, LouiseDennys, MichaeldePencier, RamsayDerry, RupertDuchesne, BuddFeheley, MaureenForester, DavidFrench...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Black heritage
MyOntario - Author: Adrienne Shadd,
Reflections on my hometown
In the year of the 150th birthday of Canada, I would like to pay tribute to my hometown. North Buxton started out in 1849 as...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Atom Egoyan,
R.C. Harris Water Filtration Plant
Whenever I have visitors to Toronto, I take them to the Harris Filtration Plant. This beautiful complex is one of the few remaining examples of...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Indigenous heritage
MyOntario - Author: M. Margaret Froh,
The Métis sash
Métis youth leader Katelyn LaCroix was recently asked what being Métis meant to her. She replied that “like the sash, we are two cultures coming...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Indigenous heritage
MyOntario - Author: Mélanie-Rose Frappier,
On the path to reconciliation
Education is key. It will lead to healing as well as social awareness about the Indigenous culture. My ancestors spent hundreds of years fighting for...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Carl Benn,
Edwardian home photos
I possess 16 photographs from c.1905 of my great-grandparents’ home in St. Catharines. At a personal level, I like these pictures because they record details...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Manuel Stevens,
Stepping back in time to Old Ontario
My Ontario is the Rideau Canal region between Smiths Falls and Kingston. Having spent many years as the planner for the Rideau Canal – and...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Expanding the narrative
MyOntario - Author: Beth Hanna,
The stories that define us
Stories are powerful. They reveal our values, pleasures and memories, the rituals and rhythms of our lives, our spiritual natures, our creative selves, our triumphs...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: D'Arcy Jenish,
Making the voyage
Our voyage aboard the MV Algomarine began at the Port of Montreal late on a Saturday afternoon in July 2007 and ended early the following...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Indigenous heritage
MyOntario - Author: Susan Bryan,
Someone has passed this way before
I’m standing on the deck of a small boat, riding the swells of the Nipigon River where it widens into Lake Superior. In front of...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Arts and creativity
MyOntario - Author: Thomas H.B. Symons,
Homer Watson: Ontario’s pioneer artist
Homer Watson’s paintings and drawings captured the spirit of pioneer Ontario much as, in a later generation, the work of the Group of Seven captured...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Arlene Chan,
Gateway to Ontario
Toronto’s Chinatown East has a beautiful gateway – a Chinese architectural tradition first introduced in British Columbia in the 1880s. As a writer and Chinatown...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Michael Bliss,
You can go home again
I first saw the Camp Ahmek waterfront on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park in 1951. I saw it again last summer – 65 years later...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Arts and creativity
MyOntario - Author: Todd Stewart,
Highway 11, near Hearst
I feel the deepest connection with a place when I’m alone in it, surrounded by silence, the rest of the world far away. The stillness...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Kathleen Wynne,
Honouring our past, embracing our future
Ontario is Canada’s largest and most diverse province – home to ingenuity, inclusiveness and optimism. Our province’s 150th birthday is a chance to reflect on...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Black heritage
MyOntario - Author: Karolyn Smardz Frost,
Digging for the Promised Land
In 1985, the Toronto school board and Ontario’s culture ministry created the Archaeological Resource Centre. There, schoolchildren and volunteers could dig into their own city’s...
- 17 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: The Honourable James K. Bartleman,
My Muskoka – Winter 1949
Every evening when I was a kid in the 1940s, I’d manoeuvre rough logs up onto a sawhorse and use a small bucksaw to cut...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Sport heritage
MyOntario - Author: Philip Pritchard,
Ontario and the Stanley Cup
Hockey is Canada’s national sport, and there is nothing more synonymous with hockey than the Stanley Cup. The tradition, the aura and the respect it...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Black heritage
MyOntario - Author: Dr. Afua Cooper,
The Black history of Ontario inspires me and defines who I am
Peggy Pompadour haunts me. I walk through the streets of Ye Olde Towne Toronto and I feel her presence – this Black enslaved woman who...
Telling the stories of Chinese Canadians
I am inspired by something intangible: the past, especially the history of Chinese Canadians. I grew up in Vancouver, knowing little about it. But once...
- 17 Feb 2017
- Natural heritage
MyOntario - Author: Michael Runtz,
Drawn back to Algonquin
Being a lifelong naturalist whose goal has been to explore Ontario’s natural history, I’ve come to appreciate just how rich this province’s biodiversity is. The...
- 01 Feb 2017
- MyOntario
- Author: Sam Steiner,
The cloud of witnesses
As a historian of Mennonites in Ontario, I have always enjoyed wandering through Mennonite and Amish cemeteries. Whether plain Old Order Amish or Old Order...
- 05 Dec 2014
- Indigenous heritage
Natural heritage - Author: Erin Semande,
Along the Ottawa River
The original Trans-Canada Highway The Ottawa River is one of Canada’s most important transportation routes, playing an integral role in many of the key stories...
- 31 May 2011
- Natural heritage
- Author: Patricia Lowe,
The Enniskillen Valley Land Acquisition Project: Making stewardship count
Through the Enniskillen Valley Land Acquisition Project, The Ontario Heritage Trust and the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (CLOCA) have successfully partnered to acquire natural...
- 31 May 2011
- Buildings and architecture
Natural heritage
Community
Tools for conservation - Author: Sean Fraser, Erin Semande and Mike Sawchuck,
Investing in preservation
It is an unfortunate reality that the preservation of our heritage remains the exception rather than the norm. What is a common-sense approach to living...
- 07 Oct 2010
- Natural heritage
- Author: Andrew Sokolowski and Susie Cameron,
Reclaiming Fleetwood Creek
It’s hard to put a price on experience. Students enrolled in Sir Sandford Fleming College’s Ecosystem Management Technology (EMT) program understand this. During the program’s...
- 07 Oct 2010
- Natural heritage
- Author: Lesley Smith,
A plantation management strategy for Fleetwood Creek Natural Area
Fleetwood Creek Natural Area, a 360-hectare (890-acre) property on the Oak Ridges Moraine, is valued for its unique post-glacial geographic features, diverse resident breeding bird...
- 07 Oct 2010
- Natural heritage
- Author: Jeremy Collins and Barbara Heidenreich,
Saving biodiversity, one property at a time
What do wetlands and forest nesting sites for northern goshawks in eastern Ontario have in common with south-central Ontario cold-water streams harbouring brook trout and...
- 07 Oct 2010
- Environment
Natural heritage - Author: John Stille,
New life for an old property
Heritage restoration is not limited to old buildings. Natural heritage properties, too, can be restored or adapted to new uses for future generations to enjoy...
- 07 Oct 2010
- Environment
Natural heritage - Author: Don Pearson, Barbara Heidenreich and Sean Fraser,
Biodiversity in Ontario: Taking up the challenge
Many are familiar with high-profile threatened species such as polar bears, whose habitat is in flux and whose numbers are dropping, or bald eagles, once...
- 07 Oct 2010
- Environment
Natural heritage - Author: Rebecca Margel,
Working with stewards and partners
The Ontario Heritage Trust owns over 160 natural heritage properties and protects over 40 natural heritage sites with easements. Because the Trust cannot manage and...
- 07 Oct 2010
- Natural heritage
- Author: Chris Earley and Brad Bass,
Enhancing urban biodiversity
Inside the Gosling Wildlife Gardens By Chris Earley Most gardeners are biodiversity geeks. “What little plant can I cram in there? Which spring bloomer can...
- 11 Feb 2010
- Indigenous heritage
Natural heritage - Author: Clint Jacobs,
Bkejwanong: Sustaining a 6,000-year-old conservation legacy
Nestled at the mouth of the St. Clair River on Lake St. Clair in southwestern Ontario is the Walpole Island First Nation or “Bkejwanong,” meaning...
- 28 May 2009
- Buildings and architecture
Natural heritage
Community - Author: Tamara Chipperfield and Kiki Aravopoulos,
Heritage in harmony: The integration of natural and cultural landscapes
Approximately 11,000 years of human culture are recorded in Ontario’s landscapes. Most existing natural landscapes in Ontario today have intrinsic cultural heritage meaning and significance...
- 28 May 2009
- Environment
Natural heritage - Author: Meagan McKeen,
Working for change
Protecting the environment and natural heritage has become an important part of my life over the past few years. While busy as a Grade 1...
- 12 Feb 2009
- Natural heritage
- Author: Tamara Chipperfield,
Protecting Ottawa’s Carp Hills
Just north of the Village of Carp lie the Carp Hills – one of the largest and wildest natural areas within the City of Ottawa...
- 12 Jun 2008
- Natural heritage
- Author: Gordon Pim,
Along the Arctic Watershed
The Arctic Watershed follows an erratic course of some 2,240 kilometres (1,400 miles) across northern Ontario. It marks the point where rivers and streams in...
- 15 Nov 2007
- Environment
Natural heritage - Author: Tony Buszynski, with photographs by Karen Abel,
Sustaining species at risk
Ontario, with its broad geography, is blessed with incredible biologically diverse landscapes. Most of us take this amazing biodiversity for granted and do not fully...
- 15 Nov 2007
- Environment
Natural heritage - Author: Tony Buszynski,
Exploring the Beaver River Wetland
In June 2007, the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) hosted a celebration to recognize the private and public efforts to protect two recently acquired...
- 10 May 2007
- Archaeology
Natural heritage - Author: Dena Doroszenko and Sean Fraser,
Tools through time: Protecting the past for the future
Identifying and protecting places in our communities that have cultural heritage value is an important part of managing change. Heritage buildings, archaeological sites and cultural...
- 10 May 2007
- Environment
Natural heritage - Author: Karen Abel,
Species at risk: The monarch butterfly (danaus plexippus)
The beautiful Monarch butterfly is the most recognized butterfly in North America. What is not commonly known is that it is also a species at...
- 15 Feb 2007
- Environment
Natural heritage - Author: Paula Terpstra,
Along the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail
Hiking along the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail offers a memorable experience. Situated close to the Greater Toronto Area, the Trail provides an opportunity to encounter...
- 15 Feb 2007
- Black heritage
Buildings and architecture
Natural heritage - Author: Gordon Pim,
Heritage by numbers
Ontario’s heritage is an immense and complex jigsaw puzzle. Every individual element of heritage creates a whole . . . a sort of heritage by...
- 07 Sep 2006
- Women's heritage
Arts and creativity
Natural heritage - Author: Gordon Pim,
Literary giants
Catharine Parr Traill is one of Canada’s literary luminaries. Her life story spans most of the 19th century, crossing oceans, battling cholera and journeying through...
- 25 May 2006
- Natural heritage
- Author: Catrina Colme,
Giant meteorite slams Algonquin Park
Well, that would have been the headline 450 million years ago. Today, it is a fascinating mark on our natural landscape. This is not a...
- 25 May 2006
- Environment
Natural heritage - Author: Tony Buszynski,
It’s not easy staying green: Working for a green and healthy Ontario
Natural heritage conservation can be traced back to the early times of the First Nations, whose close relationship with nature was reflected in religious beliefs...
- 25 May 2006
- Natural heritage
- Author: Fran Moscall,
Remarkable trees – Heritage tree preservation in Ontario
What is heavier than any land animal, taller than most buildings, older than many ancient monuments? One of the world’s oldest living organisms are –...
- 25 May 2006
- Natural heritage
- Author: Paula Terpstra,
Making tracks
Ontario’s 64,000-km network of trails traverses a varied landscape of wilderness, rural and urban areas. These trails range from waterways and portage routes to footpaths...
- 25 May 2006
- Natural heritage
- Author: Karen Abel,
Gardening for biodiversity
Many gardeners today are finding enjoyable and educational ways to participate in the promotion and preservation of Ontario’s natural heritage through the creation of habitat-inspired...
- 25 May 2006
- Natural heritage
Tools for conservation - Author: Jeremy Collins,
The anatomy of a heritage conservation easement: Building the framework for a conservation partnership
Private landowners are often faced with a difficult dilemma – how to preserve the heritage of their land for future generations in a world where...
- 25 May 2006
- Natural heritage
- Author: Barbara Heidenreich,
Our provincial tree: The eastern white pine
Builders of British sailing ships during the 1800s sought the tall, straight white pine for the masts. The best trees in British North America were...
- 25 May 2006
- Natural heritage
- Author: Barbara Heidenreich,
Giving back to nature
Southwestern Ontario sustains the richest array of flora and fauna in the country. Known as Canada’s deep south, this area includes sassafras, flowering dogwood, tulip...
- 25 May 2006
- Natural heritage
- Author: Tony Buszynski,
Working together to save our natural heritage
With ongoing development pressures for housing, roads and commercial and industrial activities in Ontario, natural heritage protection has become more critical than ever before in...
- 16 Feb 2006
- Environment
Natural heritage - Author: Ontario Heritage Trust,
Protecting natural spaces in Southern Ontario
On August 3, 2005 the provincial government announced the creation of the Natural Spaces Program, which included a $6-million allocation to the Ontario Heritage Trust...
- 08 Sep 2005
- Buildings and architecture
Natural heritage
Community
Cultural landscapes - Author: Richard Moorhouse and Beth Hanna,
The new Ontario Heritage Act: The evolution of heritage conservation
An important shift has occurred in Ontario’s legislative framework for heritage conservation. On April 28, 2005, the Ontario Heritage Amendment Act (Bill 60) received royal...
- 19 May 2005
- Natural heritage
- Author: Ontario Heritage Trust,
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...
- 12 Feb 2005
- Natural heritage
- Author: Ontario Heritage Trust,
Gifts of nature
The Egbert Ross Boothby property Imagine a plot of land on the Lake of Bays, seemingly untouched by human habitation. It has almost a mile...
- 12 Feb 2005
- Natural heritage
Community - Author: Ontario Heritage Trust,
Hurricane Hazel 50 years later
There was little warning about Hurricane Hazel – one of the worst storms in Canada’s history. At the time, few Canadians paid attention to tropical...
- Accessibility
- Privacy statement
- Terms of use
- © King's Printer for Ontario, 2023
- Photos © Ontario Heritage Trust, unless otherwise indicated.
- Accessibility
- Privacy statement
- Terms of use
- © King's Printer for Ontario, 2023
- Photos © Ontario Heritage Trust, unless otherwise indicated.