About the Certification of Cultural Property

The certification of cultural property is a process administered by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board (CCPERB), through which cultural property of outstanding significance is certified for tax purposes. The certification process encourages the transfer of outstanding examples of Canada's artistic, historic, and scientific heritage from private hands to public collections.

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Who can apply

Designated institutions or public authorities may apply for certification of cultural property on behalf of the donor or vendor. These organizations meet the necessary standards to preserve cultural property and make it accessible to the public. An institution or public authority must be designated under the Cultural Property Export and Import Act at the time of disposition and at the time that an application for certification is submitted to CCPERB. For more information about designated institutions, please visit the Department of Canadian Heritage Movable Cultural Property Program.

Deadlines

New applications, supplementary information, or requests for redetermination are all subject to the same deadlines.

Applications received by the deadline date typically will be reviewed at the subsequent CCPERB meeting, unless supplementary information or additional processing is required. Applicants will be notified in the event of any delays.

Decisions

The Review Board may approve or refuse an application for certification, put an application on hold in order to request more information, or determine an application is inadmissible.

If the Review Board determines that the object meets the requirements set out in the Act, a Cultural Property Income Tax Certificate (T871) will be issued to the donor(s) or vendor(s) based on a determination of the object’s fair market value.

If the Review Board concludes that an object does not meet the criteria of outstanding significance, the application will be refused.

If the Review Board requires additional information from the applicant to make a determination, an application may be put on hold. If the requested information is not received within two (2) years of the date of the decision letter, the application may be administratively closed.

Review Board decisions are communicated in writing to donors or vendors and to the applicant.

Applications refused for outstanding significance

Under the Act, the Review Board does not have the authority to reconsider a decision on an object’s outstanding significance. Donors or vendors may file an application for judicial review of the Review Board’s decision within 30 days after decision is communicated to the donor or vendor. See section 18.1 of the Federal Court Act for more information.

Redeterminations of fair market value

Once the Review Board has made a determination of fair market value, donor(s) and vendor(s) not satisfied with the determination may request the Review Board to redetermine the fair market value.

Requests for redetermination must be made in writing to the Review Board within twelve (12) months after the date of the Review Board’s determination. New information should be provided to the Review Board to justify a redetermination.

Donor(s) or vendor(s) may submit the redetermination request directly to the Secretariat by email or by mail. Donors or vendors may also designate a representative to act on their behalf for the redetermination request. In these cases, the request must include written authorization from the donor or vendor appointing the representative and confirming that the representative may make submissions to the Review Board.

The Review Board will consider a request for redetermination and render its decision within four (4) months after the receipt of the request, unless the circumstances of a particular case require otherwise.

Donor(s) or vendor(s) who are not satisfied with a redetermination of fair market value made by the Review Board may file an appeal with the Tax Court of Canada within ninety (90) days of the day on which the Cultural Property Income Tax Certificate (T871) was issued.