Our History
For 70+ years, we have engaged our communities and visitors to the city to discover and preserve our heritage through leadership, advocacy, and public programs.
On April 4, 1949, the Toronto Civic Historical Committee (the first of its kind in Canada) was established by City Council. Much of its early work was focused on the preservation of Fort York NHS.
Renamed the Toronto Historical Board, the organization became an arm’s length agency of the City on July 1, 1960, and a registered charity in 1967.
On October 4, 1969, the Toronto Historical Board unveiled its first plaque commemorating the volunteer reserve company that later became HMCS York. Heritage plaques recognizing designated buildings were introduced in 1977. We now produce an average of 50 plaques a year, and there are about 900 plaques located throughout our city, marking subjects as varied as the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters, the Buddies in Bad Times Theater, and Joe Shuster, the co-creator of Superman.
In 1972, the Toronto Historical Board began the city’s first heritage survey, reviewing every building and street within the city’s 1850 boundaries. On June 20, 1973, City Council adopted the Board’s initial list of 490 buildings. Now the list stands at more than 9500 buildings, and a new comprehensive city-wide heritage survey is being considered by Heritage Preservation Services.
In 1974, the Board established its Award of Merit to recognize notable contributions in the heritage field in Toronto. The first awards were presented on March 6 at City Hall during the city’s 140th anniversary celebrations, to Edith Firth; David Macdonald Stewart; The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, Toronto Region Branch; the firm of Diamond and Myers, Architects and Planners; and to the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse Foundation. Since then, 591 recipients have been recognized at our Heritage Toronto Awards—the premier event in the sector celebrating excellence in the field.
The first walking tours occurred in the early 1980s and were organized for schoolchildren visiting the Board’s historic site museums like Fort York. For the city’s 150th anniversary in 1984, the Board published a series of walking tour pamphlets. Our guided walks began a decade later in 1994. The Tours program now explores the city’s diverse neighbourhoods, and subjects as varied as Toronto’s architecture, our immigrant history, and our natural heritage.
On January 1, 2000, after amalgamation of the former municipalities of Metro Toronto, the functions and composition of the Toronto Historical Board changed significantly. Responsibility for the historic site museums and heritage preservation services was removed from the independent board; they became city departments. Renamed Heritage Toronto, we retained the agency and charity status, and responsibility for Plaques, Awards, and Tours programming.
Learn about Heritage Toronto's achievements in 2022 as we balanced rebuilding our programming with an eye to the future.
Visit outstanding examples in heritage conservation, and learn about Toronto's architectural heritage.
Our Century House plaques will spiff up any old house throughout the seasons. It's also a unique gift.
