Parks Canada, Algonquin College, Holland College, Willowbank School of Restoration Arts

2025 Governors Awards

Students at Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site | Parks Canada

The National Trust for Canada’s Board of Governors has presented Parks Canada, Algonquin College, Holland College, Willowbank School of Restoration Arts with a Governors’ Award for their collaboration to advance heritage skills training and the heritage sector’s pressing labour force needs, through the hands-on restoration of shutters at the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site. 

Since 2019, Parks Canada has been working with colleges across Canada to provide students in heritage skills programs with practical, hands-on experience through restoration projects at National Historic Sites. Between 2019 and 2022, students from Holland College’s Heritage Retrofit Carpentry Program restored original windows at Province House in Prince Edward Island. 

This past year, the initiative expanded to the Fortress of Louisbourg in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Students from Holland College, Algonquin College, and the Willowbank School of Restoration Arts have been collaborating to restore 18th-century shutters. This project not only teaches essential conservation skills but also contributes directly to the preservation of this nationally significant heritage place. 

The Governors have chosen to highlight this project as a powerful example of how collaboration between educational institutions and site managers can create meaningful learning opportunities, while ensuring the continued care of Canada’s heritage.