Heritage Toronto is an agency of the

Municipal Government of Toronto The municipal government of Toronto ( incorporated as the City of Toronto) is the local government responsible for administering the city of Toronto in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its structure and powers are set out in the '' City of Toro ...

that works to builds a better city by bringing people together to explore Toronto’s shared past and peoples’ lived experiences. It is located in

St. Lawrence Hall St. Lawrence Hall is a meeting hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located at the corner of King Street East and Jarvis Street. It was created to be Toronto's public meeting hall home to public gatherings, concerts, and exhibitions. Its main featur ...

in the city. Its programs include tours, historical plaques, the State of Heritage Report, and online exhibits.

Programming

Heritage Toronto's programming includes Tours, the Heritage Toronto Awards, Plaques, and special projects.

Tours

From April/May to October, Heritage Toronto offer
walking, bicycle and bus tours
around the city as well as private tours for smaller groups . Tours are researched, designed and led by local historians,

community groups Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community bui ...

and professionals who volunteer their time.

Heritage Toronto Awards

Every October, Heritage Toronto hosts an evening of awards. Different award categories recognize the best in new books,

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

and craftsmanship, public history, and community heritage volunteer efforts. Th
Heritage Toronto Awards
have been presented for over 45 years. In 1996, the Kilbourn Lecture (known at the time as the William Kilbourn Memorial Lecture) was added to the Awards evening. It is named for

William Kilbourn William Morley Kilbourn, Order of Canada, CM, Royal Society of Canada, FRSC (1926–1995) was a Canadian author and historian in Toronto, Ontario. Kilbourn's topics cover history, biography, religion and the arts, with a focus on Toronto; he ...

, The last lecture was offered in 2016.

Historical Plaques

For over 50 years, th
Plaques Program
has been recognizing people, places and events which have been influential to the city of Toronto. There are multiple kinds of plaques located around Toronto that represent different aspects of the city's history. * Bronze Inventory Plaques recognize properties listed or designated under the City of Toronto's Inventory of Heritage Properties. These plaques interpret Toronto's built heritage. * Commemorative Plaques describe people and events in Toronto's history, . * In 2009, Heritage Toronto and the Toronto Legacy Project inaugurated a line of historical plaques modeled on the "

Blue Plaques A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

" of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. These plaques recognize notable Toronto residents by indicating where they lived or worked.

Special projects

Sounds Like Toronto
The largest digital project by Heritage Toronto, this online exhibit launched in 2021. The digital experience, Sounds Like Toronto, presents 35 stories featuring artists and venues that epitomize Toronto’s music history, and combines exclusive audio and video interviews, 3D objects, interactive tours, and much more to impart both a better understanding of our shared music heritage and the broader social issues that have defined Canadian cultural history.
State of Heritage Report
Released every four years to coincide with Toronto municipal elections, the State of Heritage Report provides a picture of the current state of heritage in Toronto, lays out goals for strengthening the heritage sector and provides recommendations to the Mayor, City Council, senior staff and decision makers to improve heritage management. Prior to the release of the State of Heritage Report, Heritage Toronto hosts the Heritage Matters Mayoral Candidates Debate.

References

{{reflist *https://www.heritagetoronto.org/ *http://torontoplaques.com/ *http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2014/04/heritage-toronto-kicks-its-20th-season-tours *http://pubhist.info.yorku.ca/institution/heritage-toronto/ Municipal government of Toronto Organizations based in Toronto Historic preservation organizations in Canada Culture of Toronto History of Toronto