Canada became a signatory to the COP 21 Paris Agreement in 2015, committing to a 30 per cent reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from 2005 levels by 2030, and a goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The construction and building operation sector is widely understood to be Canada’s largest single source of energy use and emissions generating nearly half of its GHGs.
This report was commissioned by The Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers’ Table on Culture and Heritage (FPT) to assist the development community and governments at all levels in considering and assessing measures to encourage the rehabilitation of heritage properties in Canada.
This report addresses a number of issues pertaining to human resources (HR) in preservation, specifically the restoration1 rehabilitation, maintenance and repair of our built heritage and conservation of historic sites. During the last three decades, a workforce of built heritage preservation professionals and trades people has emerged in Canada. Even after thirty or more years of accomplishments, however, the cohort of trades and professional heritage conservation workers is not adequately recognized or understood.
One of the outcomes of heritage conservation is the development of tourism, which has itself become both an impo1tant element of economic development, and a key issue for the management of cultural heritage resources. This is particularly so with regard to built heritage, which is often considered to be at the hea1t of cultural and heritage tourism.
Since the first printing of Exploring the Connection Between Built and Natural Heritage in 2001, numerous developments in this subject area have occurred. These developments embrace both thinking and action in the conservation of built heritage as it relates to the natural environment.
During the past five years, the term “sustainable communities” has been used with increasing frequency. The federal government, for example, has established the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee on Cities and Communities, as well as a new department, Infrastructure Canada. Both initiatives are oriented towards fostering sustainability