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Movable Cultural Property Program
In order to better ensure the preservation in Canada of significant examples of our cultural, historic and scientific heritage, the Government of Canada enacted legislation to prevent the uncontrolled export of such cultural property.
The Cultural Property Export and Import Act came into force on September 6, 1977 and is administered by the Movable Cultural Property Program (MCPP) and the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board. The Act regulates the import and export of cultural property and provides special tax incentives to encourage Canadians to donate or sell important objects to public institutions in Canada.
What is the role of MCPP?
To protect objects of cultural significance to Canada, pursuant to the Cultural Property Export and Import Act, by regulating their export; entering into international agreements that prevent the illicit trafficking of cultural property; and designating well-managed custodial institutions and public authorities to be eligible to apply for grants to acquire cultural property and to apply to the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board to have donations certified as cultural property for income tax purposes.
Who should be aware of MCPP's activities?
Canada Customs officials; auction houses; foreign states; designated museums, galleries, archives, libraries in Canada; collectors of cultural property; lawyers, accountants; the Canadian public.
What is Cultural Property?
UNESCO defines cultural property as property which, on religious or secular grounds, is of importance for archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art or science. "Cultural property" therefore includes a wide range of objects, from works of art to archaeological artifacts, military objects to archival material, ethnographic material to decorative arts and scientific instruments. For the purposes of the Cultural Property Export and Import Act, cultural property must be movable, that is, it can be transported from one place to another and it need not necessarily be Canadian in origin.
What restrictions govern the export
of cultural property from Canada?
Under the terms of the Cultural Property Export and Import Act, a cultural property export permit is required to export any item of "controlled cultural property". "Controlled cultural property" is described in the Canadian Cultural Property Export Control List which is made up of eight categories of cultural property. In general, cultural property is only controlled if it is more than fifty years old and was made by a person who is no longer living. Other restrictions apply in individual categories of the Control List.
What about international obligations concerning export and import of cultural property?
The Cultural Property Export and Import Act contains provisions that seek to combat illicit traffic in cultural property, implementing Canada’s obligations under certain international agreements.
In 1978, Canada became a State Party to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The Act prohibits the import of cultural property that has been illegally exported from a country with which Canada has a cultural property agreement on illicit traffic, including the 1970 Convention. As part of Canada’s obligations under the Convention, the Act also allows for the recovery and return of such material to its country of origin.
The import of certain items of cultural property may also be restricted by other international agreements, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
In 1999, Canada became a State Party to the 1954 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, known as the 1954 Hague Convention, and in 2005 Canada acceded to the two Protocols to the Convention. Both the First Protocol (1954) and the Second Protocol (1999) to the Hague Convention contain obligations that seek to combat illicit export of cultural property from occupied territories. In November 2005 the Act was amended to allow Canada to implement its obligations concerning illicit traffic in cultural property under both Protocols. As a result, the Act now prohibits Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and stateless persons residing in Canada from illegally exporting cultural property from an occupied territory of a State Party to the Second Protocol to the Hague Convention. The Act also now provides for the return of such cultural property to its countries of origin, as required by the First Protocol.
Did you know that...
- a cultural property export permit, available through Revenue Canada Customs offices in most major Canadian cities, is always required to export "controlled cultural property," regardless of why it is being exported, whether it is exported temporarily or permanently, or how long it has been in Canada.
- It is illegal to import into Canada all cultural objects illegally exported out of a State that is also a co-signatory of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.
- there are over 250 Designated Institutions and Public Authorities in Canada, that such organizations have as their prime mandate the collection, preservation and exhibition of cultural property and that designation is the responsibility of the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
- a Movable Cultural Property Grants exists to assist designated institutions to repatriate cultural property that exists outside of Canada or to purchase cultural property for which an export permit has been denied.
- the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board is an independent tribunal made up of 10 Canadian residents that reports to the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
To contact us...
Movable Cultural Property Program
Department of Canadian Heritage
15 Eddy Street, 3rd Floor
Gatineau QC K1A 0M5
Phone: (819) 997-7761
Fax: (819) 997-7757
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