Heritage Districts and Properties

Heritage Property Register

All heritage properties in Oakville are included in the Oakville Heritage Register, an official list of properties which are identified by the town as having cultural heritage value or interest. The town is required to create and maintain the Heritage Register in accordance with the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA).

The Heritage Register includes the following types of heritage properties:

  • individually designated properties which fall under Part IV of the OHA
  • properties designated within Heritage Conservation Districts which fall under Part V of the OHA
  • properties which are not designated but believed to be of cultural heritage value or interest (also known as ‘listed’ properties)

Oakville’s designated properties are outlined in Sections A, B, C, D, and E of the Register below. The town’s non-designated, or listed, properties are outlined in Section F. To find a property, search for the property address in Property Index.

Register

  • Property Index (pdf)
  • Section A (pages 1-36) – Part IV Designated Properties (pdf)
  • Section B (pages 37-48) – Part V Designated Properties – Old Oakville HCD (pdf)
  • Section C (pages 49-54) – Part V Designated Properties – First and Second Street HCD (pdf)
  • Section D (pages 55-69) – Part V Designated Properties – Trafalgar Road HCD (pdf)
  • Section E (pages 70-78) – Part V Designated Properties – Downtown Oakville HCD (pdf)
  • Section F (pages 79-85) – Listed Properties (Not designated) (pdf)

The information contained in this register has been collected and recorded under the authority of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990 c.O.18.


Heritage Conservation Districts

The Ontario Heritage Act enables municipalities to designate a defined area as a heritage conservation district. District designation enables the municipality to manage and guide future change in the district, through adoption of a district plan with policies and guidelines for conservation, protection and enhancement of the area's special character.

There are four heritage conservation districts in Oakville:

Download the heritage conservation districts map (pdf).

Old Oakville Heritage Conservation District

Established in 1981, the Old Oakville Heritage Conservation District is Oakville's first designated district, and one of the first in Ontario. This historically significant district extends south of Robinson Street to the lakefront from the Sixteen Mile Creek in the west to Allan Street in the east. The district boasts early vernacular homes, nineteenth-century lakeside cottages, turn-of-the-century luxury houses and churches. Architectural styles are diverse and include 19th-century Georgian, Neo-Classical, Victorian and Classical Revival, many of which are a vernacular interpretation of the style. The intimate atmosphere of the Old Oakville Heritage District provides two picturesque waterfront parks, Dingle and Lakeside Park, as well as Oakville Museum at Erchless Estate.

  • Old Oakville Heritage Conservation District Plan and Guidelines (pdf)
  • Section B (pages 37-48) – Part V Designated Properties – Old Oakville HCD (pdf)

First and Second Street Heritage Conservation District

The First and Second Street Heritage Conservation District is bound by Lakeshore Road East to the north, Lake Ontario to the south, Allan Street to the west and Second Street to the east. Established in 1987, this district offers a unique range of architectural styles and eras, extending over 150 years. The area was first surveyed in 1855, after which a number of houses were built here. A second wave of residential growth occurred in the 1920s and 1930s when residents from Toronto built cottages along the lake or moved to the area permanently. This history is evident in its diverse architecture which includes nineteenth-century elegant Italianate homes, early twentieth-century revival structures, and more modern Bungalow homes.

  • First and Second Street Heritage Conservation District Plan and Guidelines (pdf)
  • Section C (pages 49-54) – Part V Designated Properties – First and Second Street HCD (pdf)

Trafalgar Road Heritage Conservation District

This district was established in 1994 and includes the area between Sixteen Mile Creek in the west and Reynolds Street and Allan Street in the east, and between Spruce Street in the north and Sumner Avenue in the south. The district is comprised of early homes, many built prior to 1860, on either side of Trafalgar Road, as well as late nineteenth-century and early to mid-twentieth-century homes just north of Oakville's downtown commercial district. George's Square, the ravine along Sixteen Mile Creek, and mature tree lines provide a stunning natural setting for the district.

  • Trafalgar Road Heritage Conservation District Plan and Guidelines (pdf)
  • Section D (pages 55-69) – Part V Designated Properties – Trafalgar Road HCD (pdf)

Downtown Oakville Heritage Conservation District

This district went into effect on March 9, 2013, and has an irregular boundary that includes the area roughly from just west of Navy Street to Dunn Street, and just north of Randall Street to the properties on the south side of Lakeshore Road East. The character of the area is defined by its wealth of nineteenth and twentieth century building stock, the commercial streetscape of Lakeshore Road East and its proximity to the Sixteen Mile Creek and Oakville Harbour.

  • Downtown Oakville Heritage Conservation District Plan and Guidelines (pdf)
  • Section E (pages 70-78) – Part V Designated Properties – Downtown Oakville HCD (pdf)
Planning & Development
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