Josh Traptow: Connecting Past, Present and Future
For Josh Traptow, heritage is not just about old buildings. It’s about people, memory, and community. His interest in heritage began early, shaped by stories passed down from his grandfathers in Calgary. One was a sign painter whose business had been literally leaving its mark on Calgary buildings since 1900. The other was a firefighter who told vivid stories about the city’s neighbourhoods and the structures that once defined them. Together, those experiences nurtured a lifelong love of history and the built environment.
That early curiosity led Josh to join the board of what was then the Calgary Heritage Authority in 2010, serving as a volunteer board member for three years. After a subsequent term on the board of the then Alberta Historical Resources Foundation, he returned to the organization in a new capacity as its first professional staff member and Executive Director in 2015.
“I saw what we were able to accomplish with just a volunteer board,” recalls Josh, reflecting on the transition from volunteer to staff member, “and I thought, how much more we would be able to accomplish if we had a fulltime professional staff member that could drive the organization forward to be the voice for heritage in Calgary? That is what we became and the organization still very much is.”
Over the next decade, he guided the organization through a period of significant growth and transformation, including its 2019 rebrand to Heritage Calgary, an important signal of the breadth of work the organization does. It has elevated the importance of heritage in the city and moved it from an afterthought to an asset.
Under Josh’s leadership, Heritage Calgary broadened beyond traditional “bricks and mortar” preservation. The organization embraced cultural landscapes, community stories, and lived experiences, recognizing that heritage exists as much in people and places as it does in buildings. He also led influential work on naming, renaming, commemoration, and removal, developing a community‑focused handbook that helped guide City Council decisions and emphasized that meaningful names should originate from the communities they represent.
Another highlight of his tenure was advocating for heritage early in the development process, rather than as an afterthought. Josh points to the preservation of Stephen Avenue as an example of how heritage‑informed planning can protect historically significant spaces while still allowing cities to evolve.
Today, Josh brings that same heritage lens to his current role as the Executive Director of the Alberta Real Estate Foundation. The Foundation provides grant funding to a wide range of projects across Alberta—from affordable housing initiatives with First Nations to public health research and environmental awareness. Drawn to the job by the possibility of having greater impact, he sees heritage as intersecting naturally with land use, the built form, sustainability, and real estate leadership.
“Realtors want to understand how to sell a heritage asset and reassure clients. And we see a good uplift when it comes to property taxes when you make investments in heritage properties. There is a ‘heritage halo’ effect that in turn benefits other properties in and around that heritage property.”
For Josh, heritage ultimately matters because it connects past, present, and future. It supports walkable neighbourhoods, vibrant local economies, climate resilience, and a sense of belonging. In a rapidly changing world, he believes heritage offers continuity and reminds us why the places we inherit are worth caring for into the future.