What is Ontario Heritage Act?
[[Image:Old City Hall and Terauley Street.jpg|thumb|250px|Old City Hall in Toronto in 1907. After it was destroyed in the 1960s, people started to think that old buildings should be protected. The Ontario Heritage Act was one way to protect these old buildings..]]The '''Ontario Heritage Act''' is a law that was made on March 5, 1975. It lets the Province of Ontario and cities protect important buildings and other places. These places are called '''designated heritage properties'''. ==Listing a place under the ''Act''== [[File:Edward Pease house sign.jpg|thumbnail|left|A plaque on a building in [[Markham, Ontario|Markham]], saying that the building is protected under the Act.]]If a place is listed as an important place under the ''Act'', the person who owns the place needs to ask the government of their city to let them change any of the important parts of the place. They also need to ask the government to let them destroy any buildings.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/Resources-and-Learning/Ontario-Heritage-Act-Register.aspx |title=Ontario Heritage Act Register |access-date=2015-05-10 |archive-date=2015-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330124721/http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/Resources-and-Learning/Ontario-Heritage-Act-Register.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> == Changes to the law == Before 2005, people could still destroy buildings that were listed as important, even if the government of the city did not want to let them. They did this by waiting for 180 days after asking to destroy the building. Once 180 days were over, if the people who owned the buildings did not agree with the government of the city, the people who owned the buildings could destroy the building. In 2005, the provincial government changed the Act. People who own important buildings are not allowed to destroy the buildings any more if the government of the city does not let them. If the government of the city does not let them destroy the building, they are allowed to ask the Conservation Review Board to