Welcome to HERM 327: Heritage Policy in Canada, a three-credit university course.

Heritage is central to Canadian cultural policy and is an important aspect of Canadian social, political, and economic life. HERM 327: Heritage Policy in Canada surveys the historical development of federal and provincial arts and heritage policies in Canada and related ideas of national and regional culture. It uses this framework to discuss perceptions of “culture” as social expression and the role of government policy in a diverse society.

A range of government policies that affect heritage resource institutions is considered in this course. The course examines the government’s role in heritage through the lenses of policy and funding initiatives and of jurisdictional issues that shape the expression of national, regional, and provincial identity, and explores the role that heritage occupies in the wider context of state cultural policy. The course considers how governments establish priorities related to heritage resources and how they ascertain which of those resources justify government expense. The issue of funding is placed in the framework of shifting aims of government policy in the heritage resource area. An important focus here is on federal tax policies that affect the heritage resource field.