What are Historic Places?
Historic places include the buildings, neighbourhoods, trails and cultural landscapes that provide a sense of place and contribute to BC's unique identity. They serve as touchstones to memory and catalysts for community revitalization. Formal recognition of such places builds awareness of our shared heritage.
What is the BC Register of Historic Places?
The BC Register of Historic Places (BCRHP) is an official list of historic places that have been formally recognized by the province or by a local government. The BCRHP supports land use decisions, heritage conservation projects, and public awareness initiatives. There are over 5,000 registered sites representing the diversity of historic places across the province.
The BCRHP is a subset of the Provincial Heritage Register of historic and archaeological sites that exists as a statutory requirement of the Heritage Conservation Act. Archaeological and pre-1846 sites are not included on the BCRHP. Contact the Archaeology Branch for information about archaeology in BC.
Arches is designed to be intuitive
Click on the thumbnails below to access the user guides to help you navigate the Arches interface:
Local Government Historic Places
Local governments play an important role in identifying, evaluating, and recognizing historic places that are significant to their communities. Under the Local Government Act and the Vancouver Charter, they may protect historic places through municipal designation or officially recognize them by listing them on a community heritage register. Designated and recognized historic places are reported to the Province and added to the BC Register of Historic Places.
For information about a historic place recognized or protected by a local government, please contact the local government identified in the record details.
For Local Governments
Submit heritage property notifications and update historic place records in the BC Register of Historic Places. To sign in, click Local Governments in the top toolbar. Submission forms are available from the search page. Instructions are available in the guides below.
Provincial Historic Places
Under the Heritage Conservation Act, the province protects historic places with provincial-level heritage significance in several ways, primarily through designation as provincial heritage property (Crown land) or provincial heritage sites (non-Crown land).
In British Columbia, there are over 50 provincial heritage designations for historic places under the Heritage Conservation Act.
Federal Government Historic Places
The federal government has responsibility for national-level formal recognition. National Historic Sites and other federal recognitions are not officially part of the BC Register of Historic Places but are noted in the system.
Contact the Heritage Branch
For more information or to report any issues please contact the Heritage Branch at heritage@gov.bc.ca or visit our website.
The Heritage Branch acknowledges it carries out its work on the traditional territories of Indigenous nations throughout British Columbia. We pay our respects to the Elders, past and present, descendants and custodians of these lands. We honour the knowledge keepers and the continuing relationships with Indigenous peoples in BC that develop through our work together. The Heritage Branch is grateful to the Lekwungen-speaking people, today known as the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations, on whose traditional territories we operate our main offices.