The Ontario Heritage Trust (French: Fiducie du patrimoine ontarien) is a non-profit agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture. It is responsible for protecting, preserving and promoting the built, natural and cultural heritage of Canada's most populous province, Ontario.
It was initially known as the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board during the 1950s. It was incorporated into the Ontario Heritage Foundation in 1967 by the Ontario legislature. Its name was changed to the Ontario Heritage Trust in 2005 by an amendment to the Ontario Heritage Act.[2] The Trust's immediate past chair is Harvey McCue.
The Trust's most recognizable work is the Provincial Plaque Program. Since 1956 (at Port Carling), it has erected over 1,200 of the now-familiar blue and gold plaques, the vast majority of which are found across Ontario, but also in the United States, France, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.[3] The Trust also owns a number of historic buildings.
The Ontario Heritage Trust Building—also known as the Birkbeck Building or the Ontario Heritage Centre—at 10 Adelaide Street East in Toronto is the headquarters of the Ontario Heritage Trust.[1] It was used as the exterior of the "125th Precinct" in Lower Manhattan in the 2012 television series Beauty & the Beast.
In 1965 the Ontario Heritage Trust began honouring sports achievements, but it was not until 1975 that the Ontario Sport Awards Program was formally established.[5][6][7]
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