Downtown Heritage Conservation District Study

Please fill out the survey by May 21, 2024.

Welcome to the Downtown Heritage Conservation District Study Survey.

The City of St. Catharines wants your input on the creation of a new heritage conservation district (HCD) in our downtown.

The City is pursuing a potential heritage conservation district to help manage change in the downtown to ensure its character is maintained for future generations. The downtown is the city's urban growth area. We know changes are coming, and we want to find a unique solution that maintains our history, while welcoming change and investment.

Currently, the City has five Heritage Districts that have been effective at conserving the City's heritage. You can learn more about them here.

Designation of a HCD takes place in two distinct phases: the Study Phase and the Plan Phase. At this time, we are only working on the Study Phase, which identifies what is significant by:

• Identifying and evaluating the key historical, architectural and heritage buildings landscape features
• Reviewing the current planning and regulatory context re: heritage designation
• Establishing a clear, defensible rationale for the appropriate boundaries of a Heritage Conservation District
• Obtaining meaningful input and support from local stakeholders, business owners, and residents through effective public consultation

If the Study Phase identifies all or part of the Study Area to meet the threshold criteria from Ontario Regulation 9/06 of the Ontario Heritage Act, Council may decide to proceed with the Plan Phase, and prepare an HCD Plan for the recommended boundary.

A HCD Plan provides policies and guidelines for conservation, protection, and enhancement of the area's special heritage character.

While we have consultants doing research and evaluating the downtown for heritage potential, we'd like your input, as well.

Community Survey

Take our survey! It will take about 5 minutes to complete and will be open from April 11 until May 21, 2024. The survey can be completed using the tools below.

Community Mapping Project

We are also interested in learning more about your thoughts through our interactive mapping project! Click here to visit the project and let us know about the areas of the downtown that are most important to you.

Public Information Centre

The first Open House was held on April 24, 2024 at the Market Square. We had a great turnout and we want to thank everyone who attended and offered their feedback on the project.

The project display boards from the Open House can be found here.

A slide show with more information can be found here.

We anticipate that another Public Information Centre will be held later in the year when the Study is closer to completion.

Study Area