An Act to incorporate The Ontario Historical Society,
Assented to 1st April, 1899,

authorizes the OHS to incorporate an affiliated society dedicated to preserving and promoting Ontario’s history. Interested historical organizations must go through an application process during which they must form a volunteer board of directors and draft an organization mission statement, constitution and by-laws, pay an administration fee to the OHS in addition to holding a public meeting.

OHS Achieves New Landmark for Incorporation through Affiliation in 2011

Incorporation with The Ontario Historical Society in 2012 has already begun!  On March 3, 2012, incorporated two new historical organizations as not-for-profit corporations, the Friends of the Merrickville Turbine and the Canadian Chapter of the Society for the Preservation of Old Mills.

This past year, the Society celebrated its 123rd year with an unprecedented number of new affiliated societies. Requests for affiliation leading to incorporation steadily continued with the resulting expansion of the heritage community, and an increase in OHS’ membership and our services to it.

The Society is pleased to report that on Saturday, December 3, 2011, the OHS Board of Directors incorporated two more historical organizations in the Province of Ontario. They are Archives Lanark and the Kanyen’keha Revitalization Society. Therefore, in 2011, the OHS has achieved a new landmark by incorporating fourteen historical organizations in one year. This surpasses the previous record established last year when the Society incorporated eleven not-for-profit historical organizations.

Congratulations to the following new not-for-profit historical corporations established through affiliation with the OHS in 2011:

• Early Canada Association;
• Norfolk Arts, Culture and Heritage Alliance;
• Friends of Lincoln’s History;
• Algoma 1812;
• Friends of Freeman Station;
• Ramara Historical Society;
• Sumac-Simcoe County’s Cultural Network;
• Dalkeith Historical Society;
• New Credit Cultural Heritage Society;
• Kennebec and District Historical Society;
• The Montgomery’s Inn Museum INNovators;
• The Society for the Preservation of the Samuel Bechtel Burial Ground;
• Archives Lanark;
• Kanyen’keha Revitalization Society.

On February 26, 2011 the Ontario Historical Society incorporated through affiliation Algoma 1812. Pictured (from left) are: Tamara Vandyk, Parks Canada; Elia Marini, Algoma 1812; Louise McAuliffe, Algoma 1812 and Rob Leverty, Ontario Historical Society, standing in front of the new Algoma 1812 Commemoration Office at 65 Foster Drive in Sault Ste. Marie.

Not only has the OHS welcomed many new members this year, we have also expanded our circle of partners. The OHS continues to broaden its base across Ontario, attracting members from every part of the province and from every discipline of the heritage field and beyond. The strength of the Society rests on the support and enthusiasm of its membership and we confidently look forward to further expansion and influence of that membership in the coming year.

If you are a non-profit heritage organization in Ontario seeking information on incorporation, please contact the Society's Executive Director.

Since March 2007, the Society has incorporated 49 new not-for-profit organizations in Ontario.  10 of those 49 new groups operate in northern Ontario.

Download Press Release: New OHS Affiliated Societies, 2007-2012 (PDF)

OHS Achieves New Landmark for Incorporation through Affiliation in 2010

The OHS is very pleased to report that on Saturday, November 27^th, 2010, the OHS Board of Directors incorporated 3 more historical organizations in 2010 as not-for-profit corporations in the Province of Ontario. Congratulations to all our fellow citizens who have worked diligently and very hard in their communities to establish and incorporate the following three new historical organizations: The Irondale Historical Society, The Friends of the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site and The Howe Island Historical Society.

In 2009, the OHS established a new milestone for itself by incorporating 9 historical organizations in one year. In 2010, the Society achieved a new landmark for incorporating through affiliation 11 historical organizations. This breaks all previous OHS records as the Society tries to respond to the rising tide of applications from all across Ontario to incorporate non-profit corporations dedicated to preserving and promoting some aspect of Ontario's history. Please see below for a list of the 20 historical organizations that OHS has incorporated in the Province of Ontario in the past 24 months.

We salute our members, partners, volunteers and friends for donating their time, skills and financial resources to document, interpret, safeguard and publicize Ontario's history for present and future generations. Each and every one of you is helping us to build a more diverse and powerful community based movement for history in Ontario.

The eleven groups that incorporated through affiliation in 2010 were: The Adolphustown-Fredericksburgh Heritage Society, Canadian Friends Historical Association, Chiefswood Board of Trustees, Kawartha Heritage, London and Western Ontario Branch of the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada, The Jack Munroe Historical Society of Elk City, Les amis du Musée du Moulin à fleur, Powassan & Area Historical Society, Glengarry Fencibles Trust, Soo Pipe Band, National Historic Sites Alliance for Ontario, Haliburton County Historical Society, Friends of Twelve Mile Lake Church, North Halton Celtic Historical Society, Friends of the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site, Irondale Historical Society, and the Howe Island Historical Society.

Affiliated Societies Incorporated since 2007

An Act to incorporate The Ontario Historical Society, Assented to 1st April, 1899, at The Legislative Assembly of Ontario, authorizes The Ontario Historical Society (OHS) to incorporate not-for-profit historical corporations as independent legal entities in the Province of Ontario. Since March 2007, the OHS has incorporated the following 47 historical organizations across Ontario:

Incorporation through Affiliation with the OHS

If your organization would like to learn more about the process to become an independent, not-for-profit historical corporation in the Province of Ontario, please contact:

The Executive Director at:
The Ontario Historical Society
34 Parkview Avenue
Willowdale, Ontario, M2N 3Y2
Tel: 416-226-9011
Fax: 416-226-2740
E-mail: ohs@ontariohistoricalsociety.ca