Frequently asked questions

Canada’s Tentative List for World Heritage Sites was updated in 2017. Countries are encouraged to update their Tentative Lists approximately every ten years, and so additions to Canada’s Tentative List are not planned for the foreseeable future.

Sites included on the Tentative List must have strong potential for inscription on the World Heritage List. In other words, sites that are included on the Tentative List must demonstrate the potential to satisfy one or more of the criteria for inscription, as well as to meet the condition(s) of authenticity and/or integrity and to have appropriate protection and management. These requirements for inscription are defined in the Operational Guidelines for Implementation of the World Heritage Convention.

Since the formal nomination of a site will need to document that the site's values are protected and managed under Canadian legislation and policies, that it has an appropriate plan for managing these values into the future, that it has Outstanding Universal Value in comparison with other similar sites around the world, and that there is stakeholder support for the nomination, sites proposed for inclusion on the Tentative List benefit from being able to demonstrate that these requirements can be addressed.

In order to help the World Heritage Committee in evaluating potential sites, State Parties must submit a Tentative List of candidate sites that have a strong potential to meet the evaluation requirements for World Heritage site designation. As of 2023, there are ten sites on Canada's Tentative List:

• Gwaii Haanas, British Columbia
• Ivvavik/Vuntut/Herschel Island (Qikiqtaruk), Yukon
• Quttinirpaaq, Nunavut
• Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs, British Columbia
• Stein Valley, British Columbia
• Wanuskewin Heritage Park, Saskatchewan
• Heart’s Content Cable Station Provincial Historic Site, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Qajartalik, Nunavut
• Sirmilik National Park and the proposed Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area, Nunavut
• Yukon Ice Patches, Yukon

Since 1976, the Parks Canada Agency has served as the State Party representative for Canada, given its expertise related to cultural and natural heritage.

As of 2023, the following properties are World Heritage sites in Canada. They are listed in the order they were inscribed:

• L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Nahanni National Park, Northwest Territories
• Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta
• Kluane/Wrangell – St.Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek, Yukon and British Columbia (and Alaska)
• Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Alberta
• SGang Gwaay, British Columbia
• Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta and Northwest Territories
• Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, Alberta and British Columbia
• Historic District of Old Québec, Quebec
• Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Old Town Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
• Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, Alberta (and Montana)
• Miguasha National Park, Quebec
• Rideau Canal, Ontario
• Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Nova Scotia
• Landscape of Grand Pré, Nova Scotia
• Red Bay Basque Whaling Station, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Mistaken Point, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Pimachiowin Aki, Manitoba and Ontario
• Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai’pi, Alberta
• Tr’ondëk Klondike, Yukon
• Anticosti Island, Quebec

The World Heritage emblem is used to identify properties protected by the World Heritage Convention and inscribed on the official World Heritage List. It represents the universal values for which the Convention stands.