Designation of institutions and public authorities - Movable Cultural Property

The Designation of Institutions and Public Authorities Program assesses the ability of Canadian organizations to preserve cultural property for the long term and make it accessible to the public through exhibitions, programming, publication, research, or online. Organizations granted designation become eligible to apply to the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board (CCPERB) for the certification of cultural property for income tax purposes, as well as to the Department of Canadian Heritage for Movable Cultural Property (MCP) grants.

Designation is granted by the Minister of Canadian Heritage, in accordance with the Cultural Property Export and Import Act (CPEIA). The CPEIA aims to encourage the preservation of significant examples of artistic, historic, and scientific heritage in Canada through designation, tax incentives, grants, and cultural property export and import controls.

Who can apply

Designation is intended for organizations who wish to apply to the CCPERB on behalf of donors or vendors for certification of cultural property for income tax purposes, or for those who would like to apply to the Department of Canadian Heritage for a MCP grant.

To be eligible for designation, applicants must be either a public authority or an institution as defined in section 2 of the CPEIA.

Organizations that may qualify for designation include:

• public authorities such as federal, provincial/territorial and municipal/regional governments, Crown agencies, Crown corporations, Indigenous governing bodies, and other public bodies that perform a function of government in Canada
• institutions such as museums, art galleries, archives, libraries with special collections, science and interpretation centres, and universities or cultural entities within universities (for example, art galleries or libraries)

There are a number of additional criteria that both public authorities and institutions must meet in order to be eligible to apply for designation. To determine whether your organization is eligible for designation, please review section 4 of the Application Guide and complete the self-assessment tool.

Application deadline

Applications for designation can be submitted at any time.

How to apply

To apply for designation, eligible organizations must submit:

• the forms Application for designation and Facilities evaluation
• all other required documents listed in Appendix 1, 2, or 3 of the Application Guide (documents required will depend on the category of designation for which the organization is applying)

Completed applications should be sent to the Designation Program electronically through a secure channel of the applicant’s choice.

Applicants are encouraged to consult the Application Guide for more information on the application process and to contact the Designation Program before applying.

Service standards

Receipt of applications will be acknowledged within 2 weeks of the date on which the application was received by the Designation Program.

Once an application is deemed complete, an official written decision will be issued within 38 weeks. Please note that more complex files may take longer to process.

Contact us

Address

Heritage Policy and Programs Branch
Department of Canadian Heritage
25 Eddy St, 9th Floor
Gatineau QC  J8X 4B3

Email

bcmdesign-mcpdesign@pch.gc.ca

Telephone

1-866-811-0055 (toll-free)

TTY

1-888-997-3123 (toll-free)

Agents are available to answer your questions, Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 5 pm (ET).