The Heritage Canada Foundation (French: Fondation Héritage Canada), also known as Heritage Canada (Héritage Canada), is a registered charity with the mandate to encourage the protection and promotion of the built, natural, historic, and scenic heritage of Canada. Established in 1973, it has campaigned to update and fill gaps in Canadian heritage policies and laws, including supporting legislation such as Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act.[1] Heritage Canada also awards municipalities for their actions in preserving historical built environments through the Prince of Wales Prize for Municipal Heritage Leadership.
The foundation also oversees the Doors Open Canada program that occurs in cities across Canada.
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Heritage Canada oversees five properties, all in the central and maritime regions of Canada. In Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, is the Runciman House, built in 1817 for an Anglican rector and purchased by George Runciman and his wife in 1822. The house, which remains essentially as it was in 1817, has since been home to six generations of the Runciman family, until they ceded it to Heritage Canada in 1978.
In Quebec, the organization holds two properties: One is the Papineau Chapel, a stone memorial chapel built in 1851 by Louis-Joseph Papineau, on the grounds of the Château Montebello in the town of Montebello. It is Heritage Canada's first property, having been acquired in 1974. The other is 11 rue de l'Ancien-Chantier, two adjacent buildings erected in 1670, in the Lower Town of Quebec City. It was purchased by Heritage Canada to act as one of its regional offices, but now houses the offices of the French: Fondation Rues principales.
There are also two properties in Ontario. The Myrtleville House is a two storey structure built in Brantford between 1837 and 1838. Originally owned by Allen and Eliza Good, the house was occupied by four generations of their family until 1978, when the property – including the house, its contents, and 5.5 acres (22,000 m2) of land – was donated to the Crown, which then transferred it in trust to Heritage Canada. Finally, in Ottawa, is 5 Blackburn Road, which presently acts as the Heritage Canada Foundation headquarters. This structure was originally put up in 1905 for William H.A. Fraser, the owner of a wholesale lumber business, and was used by them until 1911. After this, the house was used by several residents, including World War I flying ace Captain William Avery "Billy" Bishop and his family; from 1947 to 1956, the Italian Ambassador to Canada; and, from 1956 to 2001, the Victorian Order of Nurses.