International

In 1976, Canada signed the UNESCO World Heritage Convention(WHC). By signing, Canada recognized its “duty of ensuring the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission to future generations of the cultural and natural heritage ... (and that) it will do all it can to this end, to the utmost of its own resources...” While the WHC did not impose binding legal obligations on states parties to protect heritage property, it provides an important basis for national legislative protection of the most valuable aspects of cultural heritage.