National Historic Sites of Canada
National Historic Sites of Canada (French: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance.[1][2] Parks Canada, a federal agency, manages the National Historic Sites program. As of November 2023, there were 1,005 National Historic Sites,[3] 171 of which are administered by Parks Canada; the remainder are administered or owned by other levels of government or private entities.[4] The sites are located across all ten provinces and three territories, with two sites located in France (the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial and Canadian National Vimy Memorial).[5]
"NHSC" redirects here. For other uses, see NHSC (disambiguation).There are related federal designations for National Historic Events and National Historic Persons.[6] Sites, Events and Persons are each typically marked by a federal plaque of the same style, but the markers do not indicate which designation a subject has been given. For example, the Rideau Canal is a National Historic Site, while the Welland Canal is a National Historic Event.[7]
National Historic Sites are organized according to five broad themes: Peopling the Land, Governing Canada, Developing Economies, Building Social and Community Life, and Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life.[40] To be commemorated, a site must meet at least one of the following criteria:
Designation as a National Historic Site provides no legal protection for the historic elements of a site.[42] However, historic sites may be designated at more than one level (national, provincial and municipal),[15] and designations at other levels may carry with them some legal protections.
Most National Historic Sites are marked by a federal plaque bearing Canada's Coat of Arms.[43] In earlier years, these plaques were erected on purpose-built cairns,[9] and in later years have been attached to buildings or free-standing posts. These maroon and gold markers are typically in English and French, though some are trilingual where another language is relevant to the subject being commemorated.[44]
