The primary purpose of the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada is to provide sound, practical guidance to achieve good conservation practice. Anyone with an interest in conserving Canada’s historic places who voluntarily follows these Standards and Guidelines will benefit from clear and consistent guidance. The intent of the document is not to replace the role of conservation practitioners or provide detailed technical specifications appropriate to every situation. It does, however, offer results-oriented guidance for sound decision making when planning for, intervening and using a historic place.
A second purpose of the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada is to develop a pan-Canadian set of Standards and Guidelines. The Standards and Guidelines may be adopted by federal, provincial, territorial or other authorities as a benchmark for assessing proposed conservation interventions. For example, jurisdictions which adopt the Standards and Guidelines may use them to assess proposed changes to a historic place listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. Under these circumstances, the Standards and Guidelines would be used to measure compliance with legislation relating to the statutory protection of these historic places. To comply with the legislation, a project would then have to respect and conserve the heritage value and character-defining elements of the historic place as recommended in these Standards and Guidelines and as determined by the appropriate authority both at the planning stage and upon completion.
The third purpose is to assist people who intend to apply for government financial incentives for conservation. When adopted by a jurisdiction, the Standards and Guidelines may form the basis for review and assessment of a preservation, rehabilitation or restoration project before the project starts, and again upon completion. To be approved and certified for federal financial incentives, a project must be consistent with the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada.