Heritage Services

In 2024/2025, a broader Service Delivery Review was undertaken by the Region and Local Municipalities to address the impacts of changes made by the Provincial Government’s Bill 23: More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022. It was determined that heritage programming would be best delivered at the local level, where residents can engage directly through museums, libraries, and cultural organizations.

The Region’s collections management database contains approximately 34,500 records in total. Of this total, about half (18,400) are “object records”. These can be artifacts, natural history specimens, archaeological materials, or works of art. The remaining records are photographs (3,100) and archival materials (13,000). 

The 18,400 “object records” are categorized as follows: 

• 32% general tools and equipment 
• 15% textiles
• 12% miscellaneous artifacts, specimens, and works of art 
• 9% communication tools and equipment 
• 7% furnishings 
• 7% personal items 
• 6% medical science tools and equipment 

Not all items relate directly to Halton Region or have known provenance due to collecting practices and standards common for community museums that started in the 1960s.

In 2020, through Report No. LPS83-20 (PDF file), Council approved the deaccessioning of approximately 8,000-10,000 items from the Collection. Although efforts were slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the dispersal of these deaccessioning items is underway. Staff have been working with a wide range of partners and community heritage organizations on item transfers.

Deliver heritage services to Halton residents and cultural heritage partners, with a focus on facilitating preservation of (and public access to) heritage across Halton through exhibitions, programming and research.

Establish and implement a facilitative Halton Heritage Network that fosters capacity-building, collaboration and connectedness among local heritage organizations.

Provide unique services and supports to build capacity among members of the Halton Heritage Network, ensuring the preservation of local history and culture.

Act as the steward of Halton Region's Historical Collections, including archives, photographs, objects, archaeological materials and a local history reference collection.