The Doors Open concept was first introduced to North America from Scotland in 2000 thanks to the vision and dedication of Heritage Toronto and the City of Toronto's Culture Division. Today, cities in over 40 countries in Europe host Doors Open events. All Doors Open events start from the principle of accessibility: admission to all participating buildings is free. In the wake of the overwhelming success of Doors Open Toronto a number of other Ontario cities and towns lost no time in opening doors to their own culturally important buildings to the public with the support of the Ontario Heritage Foundation.

To encourage your community to launch a Doors Open event, the Heritage Canada Foundation has created an information document, entitled, How To Organize Your Doors Open Canada Event, which contains six information leaflets and five model forms to help you plan your event. They are: Getting Started; Selecting the Buildings; Marketing and Communications; Meeting the Costs/Sponsors; Volunteer Recruitment; Safety/Security/Insurance; Model Letter to Building Owner; Model for Volunteer Information Sheet; Model for Press Release; Model Site Evaluation Form and Model for Visitor Survey. Remember, your event can involve an ambitious 100 buildings or remain at fewer than 20.

Entry Criteria

Participants should carefully review the Entry Criteria (listed below) before registering their Doors Open Canada event with the Heritage Canada Foundation. To be eligible to receive the benefits of registration you or your organization must be a member of the Heritage Canada Foundation. If not already a member, you can submit your application when registering by clicking on Organizer Registration Form*. (See How To Register below). The cost of membership is $35.00. There are no additional registration fees.

• Buildings chosen for the event should be of architectural, cultural or historic interest. Private residences are generally excluded.
• Admission to the buildings must be free of charge. Those buildings normally open to the public free of charge, e.g., museums, should provide a special activity or open an additional part of the property.
• Openings should take place on one weekend or, in some cases, one day between April 1 and October 31.
• Participating building owners are responsible for interpreting the history, architecture and functions of their buildings.
• The Doors Open Canada logo must appear on all your promotion and publicity materials either alone or in conjunction with a logo designed by you for your event.

Benefits of Registration

Registrants will enjoy the following special privileges:

• Your Doors Open Event will be listed on the Doors Open Canada Web site.
• A link will be established between www.doorsopencanada.org and your Doors Open Web site.
• General information on Doors Open Canada will be publicized in Heritage magazine, the Foundation's quarterly publication.
• The Heritage Canada Foundation will include your event in the Doors Open Canada press release.
• The How To Organize Your Doors Open Canada Event, published by the Foundation, will help you plan your event. Some of the questions covered in the leaflets are:
  • How do we establish a productive organizing committee?
  • How do we select suitable buildings to participate in the Doors Open event?
  • What is the best approach to market the event?
  • What are the associated costs and how do we attract sponsorships?
  • As volunteers are crucial to the success of the event, how do we recruit and organize volunteers?

Your copy of How To Organize Your Doors Open Canada Event will be made available to you upon registration in either a CD-Rom format or as a printed hard copy.

How to Register

To register with the program, simply click Organizer Registration Form*, complete the form and return by surface mail or fax to the address listed below. If not yet a member of the Heritage Canada Foundation, the Membership Application Form is also included here.

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