The Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office (FHBRO) was established in 1982 after the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

adopted an internal policy on managing heritage buildings. Today, federal heritage is incorporated into the Government of Canada's Treasury Board Policy on the Management of Federal Real Property.

History

The FHBRO was partly created because the federal government did not have heritage protection in place, while provincial jurisdictions had passed stronger heritage laws in the mid-1970s. Led by

Parks Canada Parks Canada ()Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 37 National Parks, three National Marine Co ...

and a parliamentary committee on heritage, a policy was drafted and approved by cabinet in 1982. Cabinet allocated funds from Parks Canada's budget to manage FHBRO. A pioneering evaluation system was developed by leading heritage conservation architect, Hal Kalman. Since 1982, approximately 3% of the federal government's inventory of buildings are protected by the policy (over 1300 buildings). The majority of federal heritage buildings are owned by Parks Canada, but significant holdings are managed by the

Department of National Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

Public Works and Government Services Canada Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC; ),''Public Services and Procurement Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Public Works and Government Services (). formerly Public Works ...

and the

Department of Fisheries and Oceans Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO; ) is a department of the Government of Canada that is responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs in support of Canada's economic, ecological and scientific interests in oceans and inland ...

. In recent years, FHBRO has been a key player in facilitating the protection and conservation of the country's most prominent buildings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Federal heritage buildings

Federal government policy requires that all buildings which meet the following criteria must be submitted to FHBRO for evaluation: # the building is 40 years of age or older (federal departments may make special evaluation requests for buildings that are less than 40 years old, but are not required to do so); # the building is owned, or being considered for purchase, by a federal department (excludes

crown corporations Crown corporation () is the term used in Canada for organizations that are structured like private companies, but are directly and wholly owned by the government. Crown corporations have a long-standing presence in the country, and have a sign ...

); and # the building can contain or shelter human activities, has an interior space, an exterior shell and a roof, and it is fixed in a permanent specific location (excludes, in particular, archaeological resources and ruins). Buildings are evaluated using a point system on the basis of historical associations, architectural value and the building's environment (site, setting and landmark status). There are two classes of Federal Heritage Building: Classified Federal Heritage Building (a score of between 75 and 135 points, out of a total of 135) and Recognized Federal Heritage Building (a score of between 50 and 74 points). Once a building has been designated a Federal Heritage Building, custodial departments are required to: * consult FHBRO before undertaking any intervention that could alter the heritage character of a Classified Federal Building; * obtain appropriate conservation advice before undertaking an intervention that could alter the heritage character of a Recognized Federal Building; and * consult FHBRO before demolishing, dismantling or selling any Federal Heritage Building.

References

External links

Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office
{{authority control Federal departments and agencies of Canada Heritage registers in Canada