Deadline: 27-Oct-20
Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s Heritage Conservation Grants program was launched in 2019 with funding from the City of Vancouver. Stepping up support for heritage places, VHF built on its past programs to increase opportunities and funding for conservation of heritage buildings and sites in the city of Vancouver.
The Heritage Conservation Grants program provides funding opportunities through two categories of heritage conservation grants: Planning Project Grants and Conservation Project Grants. The grants can support owners or stewards in the care of their historic site with financial assistance and professional guidance, helping to achieve a high standard of heritage conservation to sustain heritage places and the many benefits they offer for communities for the long term.
VHF encourages all applicants to consider first applying for a Planning Project Grant or undertaking appropriate conservation planning before putting forward an application for a Conservation Project Grant.
VHF encourages all applicants to consider first applying for a Planning Project Grant or undertaking appropriate conservation planning before putting forward an application for a Conservation Project Grant.
Funding Information
Planning Projects
- Private Ownership: $2,000
- Private Ownership Heritage Designation: $2,000
- Non-profit Ownership/Self Governing First Nation: $3,000
- Non-profit ownership/Self Governing First Nation Heritage Designation: $3,000
Conservation Projects
- Private Ownership: $7,500
- Private Ownership Heritage Designation: $10,000
- Non-profit Ownership/Self Governing First Nation: $10,000
- Non-profit ownership/Self Governing First Nation Heritage Designation: $25,000
5 year maximum per site
- Private Ownership: $20,000
- Private Ownership Heritage Designation: $25,000
- Non-profit Ownership/Self Governing First Nation: $30,000
- Non-profit ownership/Self Governing First Nation Heritage Designation: $70,000
Who is eligible to apply?
- Private Owner
- Individual(s)
- Strata corporations
- Registered non-profit society or federally registered charity
- including those with a long-term lease (minimum of 10 years) in a municipally owned building with responsibility for heritage character elements eligible for work.
- Authorized agent of a site, with written permissions from the site owner
- Self-governing First Nation.
What type of work is eligible?
Planning Projects
A Planning Project Grant may provide support for consultation with an approved Heritage Professional to produce the following types of research and documentation:
- Heritage Assessment to apply for addition to the Vancouver Heritage Register
- Original building permit and/or water application
- Summary of ownership/tenancy by year
- Archival images (if available) – of the site and people associated with it to provide social historical context
- Fire Insurance Maps
- Photos of all sides of the site, exterior and interior where notable and photos of neighboring site(s) to provide context
- Statement of Significance
- Conservation Plan
- History of the site
- The site’s neighbourhood context
- Statement of Significance
- Site description and images o A description of all exterior architectural elements and their condition
- Conservation guidelines
- A list of prioritized activities to achieve conservation of the site
- Maintenance Plan
- A detailed account of required maintenance 4 Updated August 2020
- A list of prioritized activities and inclusion of conservation best practice approaches to guide building owners in their choices.
Conservation Projects
A Conservation Project Grant may provide support for the following types of projects:
- Conservation projects that support the repair of a historic site, enabling the longer life of the structure, for instance:
- Conservation of exterior character-defining elements including original shingles, siding, stucco, windows, doors, chimneys, masonry elements, porches, etc.
- Restoration projects that focus on bringing a structure back to a specific period in its history, for instance:
- Identification of the original paint colours on a building and painting in a historically authentic colour scheme using the VHF True Colours palette (for buildings built 1880s – 1920s) or another documented historical scheme.
- The removal of an enclosure from a once open porch.
- Rebuilding heritage-equivalent wood windows where the original windows have been lost.
- Rehabilitation projects that enable new uses or continued use of a heritage structure while respecting character-defining elements, for instance:
- Seismic strengthening of a building structure. For larger grant awards, consideration of improving seismic resiliency will be expected.
- Structural and envelope preservation such as roofing, foundation repair/renewal and rainwater management.
- Accessibility and other work can also be considered where directly related to the conservation of the structure.
- Sustainable retrofits that reduce carbon emissions or improve building performance directly related to preserving eligible heritage elements, for instance:
- The addition of interior or exterior storm windows for historic windows.
Eligible project costs include materials, labour and professional fees but do not include GST or permit fees.
For more information, visit https://www.vancouverheritagefoundation.org/get-a-grant/heritage-conservation-grants/