kingston to increase help for heritage property owners
kingston's increase in support is a response to rising insurance costs for heritage properties.
2 minute read
council voted to remove the heritage designation from kerri shea's highway 38 house, which was built around 1860. it's pictured in kingston, ont. on monday, june 23, 2025.
elliot ferguson
/
the whig-standard file photo
the city of kingston is to expand the support it offers owners of heritage properties.
city council voted tuesday night to double the heritage property grant program from $100,000 to $200,000 and develop a zero-interest loan program for conservation and restoration projects on heritage designated properties.
in the past year, owners of municipally designated heritage properties complained that the designations were followed by hefty increases in property insurance.
for months, the insurance companies, heritage organizations and municipal governments did not link heritage designations to higher insurance costs.
starting in 2023, ontario municipalities began increasing the number of addresses they designated because provincial rules changed so that properties listed for designation would no longer be eligible.
in a report to council, jennifer campbell, the city’s commissioner of community services, wrote that the higher insurance costs were the result of a “hardening” of insurance costs caused by large natural disasters, such as widespread wildfires and floods.
“over the past 10 months, a small number of designated property owners in kingston, primarily in the rural area, have reported issues related to property insurance, specifically increased premiums or difficulty securing coverage,” campbell wrote. “while heritage is usually not the only or primary factor in challenges with securing insurance, it has been identified by several insurance companies and brokers as a perceived risk.”
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the provincial government and the insurance industry stated that heritage designations would not cause insurance costs to go up. that message didn’t translate into practice, as many homeowners told council.
city council heard first hand from property owners who said a heritage designation caused a spike in their insurance costs. as news of the insurance increase related to heritage designations spread, property owners were increasingly objecting to heritage designations before they were put in place.
homeowner concerns prompted council to remove existing designations, vote down new designations and put a moratorium on new designations until more information became available.
“a few owners of heritage properties in rural kingston have come forward with concerns about the cost and availability of insurance related to heritage designation,” campbell added. “in a limited number of cases, this has resulted in council opting not to designate a property or, in one case, repealing an existing designation bylaw.
“there are very few insurers in ontario that will insure agricultural properties. of this limited number of insurers, some of these will not provide policies for any heritage property. as a result, the usually sound advice of ‘shopping around’ for competitive insurance rates may not be a viable option for some rural property owners.
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the expanded incentive program is to provide small grants of up to $10,000 a year and large grants of up to $50,000 a year for institutional renovations.
the zero-per-cent loan program is to provide funding of up to $50,000 in a similar manner to the city’s better homes kingston program, which helps homeowners make their properties more energy efficient.
in addition to the grants and loans, the city’s incentive program is also to provide property tax breaks of between 10 and 40 per cent.
elferguson@postmedia.com
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