Heritage Conservation Grants

The application is now open, the deadline to apply is February 26th, 2025.

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.

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.

Applications for the Heritage Conservation Grant program are now open, click here to apply.
If filling out the form online is not ideal for you, please call 604 264 9642 #6 or email the grant programs manager for other options.

Applicants will be informed of grant decisions in Late March. Work cannot commence until funding is approved.

All interested applicants should connect about their project(s) by emailing Grant Programs Manager, Meghan Lenz at meghan@vancouverheritagefoundation.

Completed Grant Project Final Report – Please complete the online form.

Heritage Conservation Grants Info Session

Wednesday, February 5, 6pm - 7:30pm
Online
Free

We are hosting an online information session for heritage property owners and stewards to help answer your questions ahead of the February 26th application deadline. VHF Grant Programs Manager, Meghan Lenz, will provide an overview of the program and the granting process, and will walk you through the application form and supporting documents required. There will also be an opportunity for participants to ask questions.

Planning is a critical part of a conservation project. Having a plan in place prepared by a heritage professional will help guide the decisions you make for future projects. Planning Project Grants provide heritage site owners and stewards an opportunity to work with a Heritage Consultant. Examples of the type of research and documentation this can assist with include:

Heritage Assessment: to collect documentation to apply for addition to the Vancouver Heritage Register.
- - Planning grants to support addition to the Register can cover 100% of the cost, up to the listed planning grant maximum.
Conservation Plan: to document the history and significance of the site, inventory architectural features or other character-defining elements, and identify conservation priorities.
Maintenance Plan: to identify required maintenance and guide long-term planning around the care of the site.

Preserving the original fabric and retaining the character-defining elements of your site are essential parts of protecting its heritage value and ensuring its longer-term life. Conservation Project Grants provide financial assistance with the costs of conserving your heritage building or site. Examples of the type of projects eligible for a Conservation Project Grant include:

The painting of your building in an authentic historical colour scheme using VHF’s True Colours paint palette.
Restoration of original wood windows or installation of historically appropriate windows where they have previously been lost.
Structural, envelope and building systems work that is essential to ensure the longevity and continued use or reuse of the structure.

Applicants to the Conservation Project Grant must follow best practices outlined in the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada.

The site must be on the Vancouver Heritage Register or planning an application to get on the Register. If you are unsure if your site is on the Vancouver Heritage Register check here.
- Sites of Indigenous cultural signficance are exempt from this guideline.
Applications are open to individual private owners, strata corporations, registered non-profit societies or federally registered charities, and First Nations.
The start date of proposed projects must be after the application processing period and must complete within 12 months of acceptance into the program.
In order to be eligible, projects must pertain to exterior elements or to the site’s overall structural integrity, unless the interior of the site is designated on the Vancouver Heritage Register. VHF will not fund replacement of original heritage fabric when repair and retention is an option.

VHF aims to support a variety to projects annually and can provide financial assistance up to 50% of the project cost to a set maximum.**

The amount of support for a project is determined by several factors; type of ownership of the site, the scale of the project and need for financial support. The amounts shown are maximums only and do not represent guaranteed funding amounts.

Select True Colours painting projects will also recieve complimentary paint for their project (up to 25 gallons) courtesy of Sherwin-Williams.

Ownership Types & Heritage Protection	Private Ownership	Private Ownership with Heritage Designation*	Non-profit Ownership/ First Nation	Non-profit ownership/ First Nation, with Heritage Designation*
Planning Projects	$2,000	$2,000	$3,000	$3,000
Conservation Projects	$7,500	$10,000	$10,000	$25,000
5 year maximum per site	$20,000	$25,000	$30,000	$70,000

*Sites that have received municipal or provincial legal protection to care, preserve and retain the heritage character-features of a site are considered to have Heritage Designation. The Vancouver Heritage Register will identify these sites with an (M) or (P) next to the address listing.

**Sites applying for a planning grant to support addition to the Vancouver Heritage Register can request up to 100% of the cost of a heritage consultants report, up to the maximum amount listed above.