Statement of Significance

A Statement of Significance (SoS) is a written document that identifies a property's heritage value and details relevant connections the property has to contemporary views on the importance of historic places.

An effective Statement of Significance is a comprehensive description of the attributes that render a property historically valuable and serves as a record or guide of any conservation work that must occur in order to maintain the identified values. Outlining such work is not only essential prior to the designation of a property with heritage value but, also, can be used to facilitate decision-making related to the property's long-term care.

Statements of Significance are usually comprised of the following three parts:

• A brief description of the property (no more than 2 or 3 sentences in length).
• A summary of the property's heritage value(s).
• An outline of the property's character-defining elements.