Opération patrimoine Montréal

Last updated May 5, 2026
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Opération patrimoine Montréal celebrates the city’s heritage in all its forms and raises public awareness of the importance of protecting our treasures.

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The Grands Prix offer the public the chance to define Montréal’s heritage by nominating places, people and organizations that contribute to the richness and diversity of our collective identity.

Here are the five categories for which you can submit an application.

Taking care

This category is for residential property owners who have been particularly dedicated over time to the preservation of their building of heritage interest, through constant and preventive maintenance or through the restoration of architectural elements of heritage interest.

If the residence had previously received an award from the city, its new owners must demonstrate in what way they have contributed to ensuring the building’s long-term preservation.

Regiving purpose

This category is for project designers who have helped update a place of heritage interest that is owned either privately or by a corporation (building, real estate, built property, landscape) and repurposed it for a new or contemporary use, through reconditioning, conversion or adaptation work. This work must aim to enhance the place of heritage interest or preserve it in keeping with its original characteristics.

The work must be completed between January 1, 2025, and June 19, 2026.

In accordance with the city’s commitments regarding the ecological transition, project coordinators of the winning project in this category will be invited to provide some additional information. The data will be used by the Bureau de la transition écologique et de la résilience de la Ville de Montréal to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions avoided as a result of the submitted project. The project’s contribution to GHG reduction will be highlighted when broadcasting the Grands prix winner announcements.

Proving expertise

This category is intended for any person or group of people who is recognized in their community for their active practice and exceptional mastery of a traditional practice related to the city’s built, living, artistic or cultural heritage. They master a tradition that they actively convey to people in their community who are interested in learning it and acquiring the set of skills it entails. At its core, the practice of this tradition must highlight Montréal’s heritage or flourish across its territory.

Building awareness

This category is for any person or organization (museum, historical society, etc.) whose activities and achievements highlight heritage and bring it to the public’s attention in creative and innovative ways.

Projects may take various forms, including animation, interpretation trails, thematic routes, artistic creations (shows, performances, visual arts), exhibits, films, festivals, publications or literature revies related to heritage.

If the person or organization has previously been awarded the Grand prix for a different project, they must demonstrate in what way the current project differs from their previous achievements.

The project must have been completed, either fully or in part, between January 1, 2025, and June 19, 2026.

Acting together

This category is for any group (non-profit organization or group of citizens) or for initiative resulting from a joint civic project that has contributed to the enhancement of a site or area of interest in the city, and to preserving significant elements of the site, even if the original objective was not heritage conservation.

These initiatives may be presented in different forms: a civic project pertaining to the development of public areas, the implementation of incentive or programs for the preservation or enhancement of heritage elements, awareness or interpretation activities pertaining to a heritage site, a display having a heritage impact (commercial, institutional, public, etc.).

The project must be carried out fully or in part between January 1, 2025 and June 19, 2026.

Rules

The Grands Prix Opération patrimoine Montréal are open to all residents of the Montréal’s boroughs and neighbouring municipalities. Participants may nominate candidates in the five categories mentioned above.

General rules

  • Participants who nominate a third party must get the candidate’s permission and consent.
  • The city will not consider preferences expressed in comments on Facebook or other social media or suggestions sent by email.
  • This contest does not commit Montréal to any participant. There are no prizes to be won by residents who have nominated a third party as a candidate.
  • The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in autumn 2025.
  • Participants must grant the city the right to use the photos for the Web and for any future publication.

Selecting the winners in the five Opération patrimoine Montréal categories

The winners in the five categories will be determined from among the compliant entries received, by a panel of judges made up of seven (7) representatives from the following bodies:

  • Héritage Montréal
  • The Conseil du patrimoine de Montréal
  • The Division du patrimoine de la Ville de Montréal
  • The Service de la culture de la Ville de Montréal
  • Crafts
  • Museology or communications
  • Any other relevant field

Award criteria

The jury will review the compliant proposals received and determine the winner in each of the five categories based on the following criteria:

  1. Ability to meet the technical requirements set out in the application form
  2. Fit with the description of the category in which the nomination is made
  3. Ability to create a collective attachment to the various forms of heritage on the island of Montréal
  4. Quality of the applicant’s project or approach
  5. Quality of the visual and text documents submitted
  6. Where it applies, the jury will pay close attention to candidate projects that contribute to the social and environmental transition, while minimizing their environmental impact and strengthening social and economic ties within their community

Jury

Denis Boucher has been President of the Conseil du patrimoine de Montréal since December 2022. He has been involved in cultural heritage for 25 years as an expert, strategic advisor, communicator, teacher and project leader. Over the years, he has been involved in municipal affairs and numerous heritage organizations. 

He has served on the Conseil du patrimoine culturel du Québec (2007-2020), the Conseil du patrimoine religieux du Québec (2011-2017) and the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications as coordinator of the action plan to improve practices for safeguarding and promoting immovable heritage.

He teaches heritage preservation strategies at UQAM’s École de design.

An urban walker and sketch artist, Dinu Bumbaru has been working since 1982 with Héritage Montréal, an independent organization that promotes the protection, enhancement and enrichment of the built, landscape and urban heritage of the greater metropolitan area. A graduate in architecture and conservation from the universities of Montréal and York (UK), he is also active with organizations such as Culture Montréal (of which he is a co-founder), Les amis de la montagne and Fédération Histoire Québec.

His metropolitan activities are complemented by his international involvement with the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), of which he has been Secretary General and President of the Canadian Committee, focusing, among other things, on risk prevention in the heritage of the modern era and metropolises. Mr. Bumbaru also acts as an advisor to governments and metropolitan administrations. His contribution to advancing the cause of heritage in society has earned him several awards, including the Prix du Québec en patrimoine (2012), the Prix du Mont-Royal (2016), the Order of Canada (2008) and the Ordre de Montréal (2017).

For the past 20 years, Marie-Ève Courchesne has played an active role in the fields of museology, heritage and cultural participation. She has actively contributed to initiatives for the enhancement of local heritage and history, while also facilitating exchange and dialogue among communities. She has held a position with the city’s department of culture (Service de la culture de la Ville de Montréal), since 2017, where her role is to help enhance the cultural vitality in Montréal’s neighbourhoods by managing financial support programs, partnership agreements and collaboration and exploration activities regarding accessibility issues. Her work is guided by the firm belief that culture and heritage are powerful levers of territory development, cohesion and inclusion.

Mathieu Payette-Hamelin is an urban planner. He holds a doctorate in planning from the Université de Montréal and a doctorate in urban planning from the Université d’Aix-Marseille (France). He has been working for the Ville de Montréal since 2018, where he holds the position of Division Head in the Heritage Division of the Service de l’urbanisme et de la mobilité. His current team is responsible for, among other things, the application of the municipal component of the Cultural Heritage Act for the Ville de Montréal, expertise in archaeology and toponymy, as well as support for Montréal departments and boroughs in heritage matters.

He previously held the positions of Section Head in the Heritage Division and Division Head in the Urban Projects Division.

Before joining the municipal sector, he held various positions with the Québec government’s Ministère de la Culture et des Communications.

An ethnologist specializing in built heritage and traditional craftsmanship, Catherine Charron has invested the past ten years in research, heritage interpretation and the development of craft communities. Having studied ethnology at Université Laval and cultural management at HEC Montréal, she focuses more specifically on the transmission of craftsmanship, on the culture of crafting and on human stories as a way to shape territories. As the manager of architecture and heritage for the Conseil des métiers d’art du Québec (CMAQ), her role is to lead key projects related to arts and crafts, the preservation of historic buildings and to highlighting the work of heritage artisans. She namely coordinates the Quartier des métiers d’art de Montréal project, along with several initiatives involving mobilization, training and the enhancement of traditional expertise. Driven by a sensible approach anchored in living environments, she guides communities in their acknowledgement of material and immaterial cultural heritage and its revitalization.

Menaud Lapointe is an architect who graduated from Université de Montréal in 2005. He received the LEED – existing buildings certification from the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals and is of the managers of Beaupré Michaud et Associés.

As part of his work, he aims to improve the architectural quality of living environments. He promotes the revitalization, repurposing and conversion of existing buildings, while also designing new buildings that blend seamlessly into their existing built environment.

He has a vast experience with institutional, community and residential projects. He conducts research and analyses pertaining to the history and evolution of built heritage and he plans outstanding restoration work. His expertise has namely been recognized through the award of the Grand prix de l’Ordre des architectes du Québec 2025 for his project for the renovation of Montréal’s city hall.

Marie-Dina Salvione is the author of the youth book titled “La ville nous parle. Petite initiation au patrimoine”. She received a special mention as part of the Opération patrimoine awards in the Building Awareness category (2025). Professionally, she has acquired a vast and comprehensive expertise in both citizen participation (INM) and built heritage. In this context, she holds a teaching position at the UQAM school of design and at the urban planning faculty of Univeristé de Montréal. A designer by training, she also earned her doctorate of architecture and city sciences (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 2013). Her professional collaborative work, her published papers and her speaking engagements pertain to the collective value of heritage preservation. Marie-Dina is also actively involved in heritage protection, namely as a member of the Conseil du patrimoine de Montréal.

Current

Call for nominations

The call for nominations for the Grands Prix Opération patrimoine runs from April 20 to June 19, 2026.

Taking care – Application Form

Regiving purpose – Application Form

Providing expertise – Application Form

Building awareness – Application Form

Acting together – Application Form

Winners

Discover the winning projects and recipients of the Grands prix Opération patrimoine 2025. 

Architecture, landscapes, archeology and knowledge are only a few examples of both the tangible and intangible heritage that shape Montréal’s identity. The Grands prix Opération patrimoine Montréal highlight the population’s efforts to preserve this collective wealth

Taking care

251, avenue de l’Épée

Regiving purpose

Halte de la Visitation

Providing expertise

Jeff Scheckman et le Studio du Verre

Building awarness

Broder ses racines

Acting together

Réco

Taking care

Mentions : 1600, boulevard Gouin Est

Regiving purpose

Mention : Bibliothèque Maisonneuve

Providing expertise

  • Pierlucio Pellissier

Mention : Marc Gagnon, avec son entreprise La Belle Corniche et Fils

Faire connaître ex aequo

Acting together

Taking care

Mentions : 2365, rue de Rushbrooke et 1254, boulevard du Mont-Royal

Regiving purpose

Mention : La Gare Windsor, 1100, avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal

 Proving expertise

Mention : Edyta Rano et Carole Hili 

Building awareness

Acting together 

Taking care

Mention : 4432, rue de Mentana

Regiving purpose

 Proving expertise

Mentions : Annick Fleury and Isabelle Leclerc

Building awareness

Acting together 

Taking care

  • 2379, rue Coursol

Regiving purpose

  • Théâtre Paradoxe – 5959, boulevard Monk

Mention : Projet Sainte-Germaine-Cousin – 14 205, rue Notre-Dame Est

Proving expertise

  • Les Forges de Montréal
  • Daniel-Jean Primeau, sculpteur plâtrier

Building awareness

  • Festival Vivre le patrimoine !

Mention : Montreal Signs Project – Université Concordia

Acting together 

  • Jardin Biodiversité et polinisateurs – Sentier urbain

Patrimoine en fête in Verdun

Discover the richness of local heritage during the event Patrimoine en fête : Verdun, a land of water and heart. Historical activities, discovery booths and musical performances will take place at Parc Arthur-Therrien on 13 and 14 September 2025.

In partnership

  • Logo Héritage Montréal
  • Logo du Gouvernement du Québec

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