Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks

The contiguous national parks of Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho, as well as the Mount Robson, Mount Assiniboine and Hamber provincial parks, studded with mountain peaks, glaciers, lakes, waterfalls, canyons and limestone caves, form a striking mountain landscape. The Burgess Shale fossil site, well known for its fossil remains of soft-bodied marine animals, is also found there.

 Canada

Provinces of British Columbia and Alberta

N51 25 29 W116 28 47

Date of Inscription: 1984

Extension: 1990

Criteria: (vii)(viii)

Property : 2,299,104 ha

Ref: 304bis

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

SGang Gwaay

SGang Gwaay

The village of Ninstints (Nans Dins) is located on a small island off the west coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii). Remains of houses, together with carved mortuary and memorial poles, illustrate the Haida people's art and way of life. The site commemorates the living culture of the Haida people and their relationship to the land and sea, and offers a visual key to their oral traditions.

Canada

Province of British Columbia

N52 5 42 W131 13 13

Date of Inscription: 1981

Criteria: (iii)

Ref: 157

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Rideau Canal

Rideau Canal

The Rideau Canal, a monumental early 19th-century construction covering 202 km of the Rideau and Cataraqui rivers from Ottawa south to Kingston Harbour on Lake Ontario, was built primarily for strategic military purposes at a time when Great Britain and the United States vied for control of the region. The site, one of the first canals to be designed specifically for steam-powered vessels, also features an ensemble of fortifications. It is the best-preserved example of a slackwater canal in North America, demonstrating the use of this European technology on a large scale. It is the only canal dating from the great North American canal-building era of the early 19th century to remain operational along its original line with most of its structures intact.

Canada

Province of Ontario

N44 59 39.79 W75 45 54.45

Date of Inscription: 2007

Criteria: (i)(iv)

Property : 21,455 ha

Buffer zone: 2,363 ha

Ref: 1221

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Joggins Fossil Cliffs

 Joggins Fossil Cliffs

The Joggins Fossil Cliffs, a 689 ha palaeontological site along the coast of Nova Scotia (eastern Canada), have been described as the “coal age Galápagos” due to their wealth of fossils from the Carboniferous period (354 to 290 million years ago). The rocks of this site are considered to be iconic for this period of the history of Earth and are the world’s thickest and most comprehensive record of the Pennsylvanian strata (dating back 318 to 303 million years) with the most complete known fossil record of terrestrial life from that time. These include the remains and tracks of very early animals and the rainforest in which they lived, left in situ, intact and undisturbed. With its 14.7 km of sea cliffs, low bluffs, rock platforms and beach, the site groups remains of three ecosystems: estuarine bay, floodplain rainforest and fire prone forested alluvial plain with freshwater pools. It offers the richest assemblage known of the fossil life in these three ecosystems with 96 genera and 148 species of fossils and 20 footprint groups. The site is listed as containing outstanding examples representing major stages in the history of Earth.

Canada

N45 42 35 W64 26 9

Date of Inscription: 2008

Criteria: (viii)

Property : 689 ha

Buffer zone: 29 ha

Ref: 1285

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Gros Morne National Park

Situated on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland, the park provides a rare example of the process of continental drift, where deep ocean crust and the rocks of the earth's mantle lie exposed. More recent glacial action has resulted in some spectacular scenery, with coastal lowland, alpine plateau, fjords, glacial valleys, sheer cliffs, waterfalls and many pristine lakes.

 Canada

Provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador

N49 36 45 W57 31 53

Date of Inscription: 1987

Criteria: (vii)(viii)

Property : 180,500 ha 

Ref: 419

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Nahanni National Park

Located along the South Nahanni River, one of the most spectacular wild rivers in North America, this park contains deep canyons and huge waterfalls, as well as a unique limestone cave system. The park is also home to animals of the boreal forest, such as wolves, grizzly bears and caribou. Dall's sheep and mountain goats are found in the park's alpine environment.

Canada

Northwest Territories

N61 32 50 W125 35 22

Date of Inscription: 1978

Criteria: (vii)(viii)

Property : 476,560 ha

Ref: 24

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Old Town Lunenburg

Brief Description

Lunenburg is the best surviving example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America. Established in 1753, it has retained its original layout and overall appearance, based on a rectangular grid pattern drawn up in the home country. The inhabitants have managed to safeguard the city's identity throughout the centuries by preserving the wooden architecture of the houses, some of which date from the 18th century.

Canada

Nova Scotia

N44 22 34 W64 18 33

Date of Inscription: 1995

Criteria: (iv)(v)

Property : 33 ha

Ref: 741

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Landscape of Grand Pré

Brief Description

Situated in the southern Minas Basin of Nova Scotia, the Grand Pré marshland and archaeological sites constitute a cultural landscape bearing testimony to the development of agricultural farmland using dykes and the aboiteau wooden sluice system, started by the Acadians in the 17th century and further developed and maintained by the Planters and present-day inhabitants. Over 1,300 ha, the cultural landscape encompasses a large expanse of polder farmland and archaeological elements of the towns of Grand Pré and Hortonville, which were built by the Acadians and their successors. The landscape is an exceptional example of the adaptation of the first European settlers to the conditions of the North American Atlantic coast. The site – marked by one of the most extreme tidal ranges in the world, averaging 11.6 m – is also inscribed as a memorial to Acadian way of life and deportation, which started in 1755, known as the Grand Dérangement.

Canada

N45 7 6 W64 18 26

Date of Inscription: 2012

Criteria: (v)(vi)

Property : 1,323 ha

Buffer zone: 5,865 ha

Ref: 1404

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Historic District of Old Québec

Postcard from Carole-Anne, Thank you very much::

Brief Description

Québec was founded by the French explorer Champlain in the early 17th century. It is the only North American city to have preserved its ramparts, together with the numerous bastions, gates and defensive works which still surround Old Québec. The Upper Town, built on the cliff, has remained the religious and administrative centre, with its churches, convents and other monuments like the Dauphine Redoubt, the Citadel and Château Frontenac. Together with the Lower Town and its ancient districts, it forms an urban ensemble which is one of the best examples of a fortified colonial city.

Canada

Province of Quebec, City of Quebec

N46 48 34 W71 12 38

Date of Inscription: 1985

Criteria: (iv)(vi)

Property : 135 ha

Ref: 300

Source: http://whc.unesco.org