Province House National Historic Site

Backgrounder

New infrastructure investments total: $21 M
Previously announced infrastructure investments: $20 M
Grand total of infrastructure investments (new and previously announced): $41 M

Province House National Historic Site, the birthplace of Confederation and the seat of Prince Edward Island's provincial legislature, stands as a celebrated Canadian landmark.

Province House was commemorated as a national historic site by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada due to its significance as the first meeting place of the Fathers of Confederation: the Charlottetown Conference of 1864. This conference, along with the Quebec Conference of 1864 ultimately lead to Canadian Confederation in 1867.

Province House is a fine example of Neo-Classical Revival architecture and was constructed between 1843 and 1847 to house Prince Edward Island’s provincial legislature, the Supreme Court, and to serve as a depository of public documents for Prince Edward Island.

The Government of Canada has an agreement with the Province of Prince Edward Island, to restore, preserve, interpret, and administer Province House as a national historic site. Through a Memorandum of Agreement signed on October 1, 1974, the federal government was given exclusive occupancy of designated areas for 99 years.

Province House is currently closed for conservation work. Until the site closed, it was occupied by both the Province of PEI and Parks Canada. The Legislative Assembly of PEI met in Province House and various provincial government offices were also located at the site. At the same time, Parks Canada operated Province House as a national historic site and provided guided tours for the public. The site is an important landmark in the city of Charlottetown and a major attraction for visitors to the Island.

List of project:

Project name: Province House NHS Conservation
Estimated total: $41 M
Project description: The objective of this project is to invest in the remediation of Province House NHS to address areas of highest priority of structural instability.

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Hon. Catherine McKenna Parks Canada Information and Communications