Can a cottage receive some kind of heritage designation that would protect it from demolition or major renovations?—Maia Julian, via email
Absolutely! Well, maybe. “The first thing to know is that you can’t just ask for a designation,” says Mary MacDonald, a senior manager in Heritage Planning with the City of Toronto. “The cottage would need to meet a specified set of criteria.” In Ontario, these conditions are set out in the Ontario Heritage Act.
One common, and probably obvious, criterion is that the building would need to have “a high degree of architectural value,” says MacDonald—a structure that’s well-designed, for example. But looks aren’t everything. “Heritage buildings can also be the site of something important that happened or associated with someone who’s recognized to have an importance to the community,” she says. Usually, it’s not one single factor that determines a building’s heritage value. “More often than not, it’s a combination of them.”
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MacDonald understands why you’re asking the question. Probably you don’t want a future owner to change anything about this precious building that you’ve had for many years. Probably, says MacDonald, you care more about the survival of the cottage than you do about the real estate transaction. You love the cottage. Fair. Except…in the words of Patty Smyth and Don Henley, sometimes love just ain’t enough. Even if your cottage was granted a heritage designation through your local municipal council, it isn’t a foolproof way to protect the property, says MacDonald. “When someone buys a building with a heritage designation, the designation follows the property, but the new owner does have the right to, through the Heritage Act, apply to the municipal council to make changes.” Renovations or additions usually need approval from council, but certain interior changes—adding new furniture or appliances, for example—don’t.
MacDonald doesn’t want to discourage you. “It’s just that there are steps to follow,” she says. The first one? Approach your municipality and ask if they have a process in place to evaluate your cottage. The larger the municipality, the more likely they’ll have dedicated heritage planners on staff. A smaller municipality, on the other hand, typically won’t, and may ask you to hire a consultant to do the evaluation.
“I love that someone’s interested in doing this,” says MacDonald. “For someone who spends her time convincing people why they should do it, it’s really nice to hear of someone who wants to do it.”
This article was originally published in the September/October 2025 issue of Cottage Life.
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