At this moment, government officials are under pressure to deliver a Federal Budget that provides practical and immediate measures to stimulate the economy.

Help HCF ensure that the 2009 Federal Budget includes heritage rehabilitation tax incentives. 

Here are some key facts and messages to help you make the case to the Minister of Finance, the Hon. Jim Flaherty (Flaherty.J@parl.gc.ca) and the Minister of Environment, Hon. Jim Prentice (Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca).

If you want to contact your local MP as well, email address and phone numbers can be found at www.parl.gc.ca

To participate in the government’s online pre-Budget consultation go to: http://www.fin.gc.ca/activty/consult/prebud09_e.html

KEY FACTS AND MESSAGES

Building Rehabilitation is an Exceptional Economic Stimulant

• Community revitalization – property renewal attracts new businesses and residents and increases property values; and
• Jobs – rehabilitation creates more jobs than new construction.

US Rehabilitation Tax Incentive has Proven Track Record
In the United States, The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 introduced heritage-friendly changes to the federal tax system designed to stimulate the economy. The results are impressive:

• Over $36 billion in private investment in historic buildings leveraged (5 times more than the tax credits);

• An average of 45 new jobs created by each project; and
• Over 350,000 housing units created, 60,000 of them low and moderate income housing.

The US tax system provides a 20% federal tax credit for rehabilitation of heritage buildings and a 10% tax credit for the rehabilitation of non-heritage, non-residential buildings built before 1936.

Canadian Communities and Key Stakeholders Agree a Rehabilitation Incentive Is Needed
Thousands of Canadians and over a dozen Canadian municipalities have endorsed the Heritage Canada Foundation’s resolution calling for federal tax rehabilitation tax incentive. Provincial and territorial governments are on board.  The Canadian Urban Institute and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada emphatically endorse tax incentives. In September 2008, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities threw their weight behind this call for a rehabilitation tax incentive.  

A Heritage Rehabilitation Tax Incentive Can Be Up and Running Quickly
A pilot program to test such an incentive was successfully completed by Parks Canada Agency during 2003-2007.  The requisite tools to administer a tax incentive are already in place:

• The Canadian Register of Historic Places identifies properties eligible for heritage tax measures; 
• Standards and Guidelines have been published and adopted; and
• Trained agents are in place in every province to certify the tax-supported work.

More Good Reasons to Encourage Heritage Building Rehabilitation:

• Curb landfill - reduce Canada’s annual 10 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste;
• Reduce emissions and energy consumption- rehab uses less than half the energy of new construction;

• Optimize Existing Infrastructure – rehab avoids new road, sewer, and hydro infrastructure; and

• Save our heritage – Canada has lost over 20% of its pre-1920 buildings in the last 30 years.

» KEY FACTS AND MESSAGE (PDF)

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September 23, 2008

The Honourable James Michael Flaherty, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Finance
L’Esplanade Laurier, 140 O’Connor Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0AG

Dear Minister:

I am writing to inform you of the attached resolution, SOC08.3.07 – Federal Financial Tax Incentives for Heritage Places, was recently adopted by the FCM’s National Board of Directors.

The resolution calls on the Government of the Canada to establish financial tax incentives for the rehabilitation of heritage buildings which would encourage private sector investment in the rehabilitation of historic landmarks.

As you may know, every Canadian province and territory has protective legislation for heritage buildings and a range of grants and other incentives to encourage their rehabilitation. Similarly, the vast majority of Canada’s urban municipalities offer financial incentives for heritage buildings. But they are missing an important partner – the Government of Canada. Among the G-8 countries, Canada alone lacks a national system of funding policies and programs to preserve its heritage properties.

Incentives for the rehabilitation of the heritage buildings can have many spinoff benefits: stimulate investment in Canadian projects, infrastructure and communities: create new employment in the buildings trades and professions; enhance cultural tourism – a huge generator of revenue from other countries; and keep historic buildings out of landfill sites.

We look forward to hearing from you on this issue.

Yours sincerely,

Jean Perrault
President of FCM
Mayor of Sherbrooke

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February 12 2008
SOC08.3.07
Federal Financial Tax Incentives for Heritage Places

WHEREAS according to the Heritage Canada Foundation, Canada has lost more than 20% of its pre-1920 heritage buildings to demolition over the past 30 years;

WHEREAS the Heritage Canada Foundation has stated that urgent action is needed to stop the demolition of Canadian landmarks, to restore and re-use them, and to acknowledge their value as a reminder of our origins and cultures;

WHEREAS heritage structures are also a valuable economic development resources, supporting re-urbanization initiatives and tourism as well as providing environmental benefits by the way of reducing landfill, preserving natural resources and promoting sustainability;

WHEREAS there are currently not financial tax incentives to encourage private sector investment in the rehabilitation of historic properties; and

WHEREAS Heritage Thorold LACAC has requested the City of Thorold pass a resolution requesting the Federal government to introduce financial incentives which would encourage private sector investment in the rehabilitation of historic properties;

BE IT RESOLVED that the Federation of Canadian Municipalities request that the Federal Ministers of Finance and Canadian Heritage establish financial tax incentives for the rehabilitation of heritage buildings which would encourage private sector investment in the rehabilitation of historic landmarks.

City of Thorold, Ontario

SEPTEMBER 2008 BOARD DECISION: Category “A”; RESOLUTION ADOPTED