Heritage Railway Stations in Canada

The Heritage Railway Stations Protection Act was enacted in 1988 in response to a long-standing and widespread concern that Canada’s heritage railway stations were not being protected. Bill C-205, An Act to protect heritage railway stations, was proposed by MP Gordon Taylor in a private member's bill which received support of all parties in the House of Commons.

The railway was once the backbone of Canada. This changed with widespread adoption of the automobile. The Trans-Canada Highway opened in 1962; Highway 2, the congested Main Street in every town in the busy Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, was bypassed by the 401/20 freeway in 1968. Passenger train ridership dropped from a World War II peak of 60 million to less than 5 million in 1977. Federally owned Via Rail provided CN and CP an exit from the long-unprofitable passenger rail business in 1978. The railways retained ownership of tracks, railway stations and freight operations. A long series of Via Rail budget cuts from 1981 onward eventually left countless small villages stranded in the wilderness with no passenger rail service.

The railways had little incentive to preserve or re-purpose abandoned passenger stations. Municipalities found provincial heritage preservation laws inadequate to protect railway history as interprovincial rail is within federal jurisdiction. CP's West Toronto station, closed when its last passenger train was rerouted in 1978, was unlawfully demolished on November 25, 1982 as one of multiple closed stations demolished in that era, occasionally using similar tactics.

Designation of heritage railway stations and specific heritage features is made on the recommendation of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada by the minister responsible for Parks Canada. Requests to the Board, in turn, typically originate from local entities such as municipalities and historic preservation groups.

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