Markham spent $14.8 million and nearly two years rebuilding Main Street Unionville. The road reopened on May 31, 2026, with interlocking brick pavers, wider sidewalks, new lighting and enough goodwill from residents and business owners that Mayor Frank Scarpitti called it a celebration of almost 200 years of history. It is, by every account, a better street than it was in 2024.
Here is what that $14.8 million did not touch: the approval process for anything you want to do to the exterior of a home inside the Unionville Heritage Conservation District. That process existed before construction started, continued while the street was torn up, and is sitting there today, unchanged, waiting for the next homeowner who assumes a finished public project means an easier private one.
If you own, or are considering buying, a property inside the district boundary and you're thinking about new windows before you list, a rear addition, or even a driveway expansion, the timeline you need to plan around has nothing to do with the streetscape work. It has to do with a permit system that's been in place since 1997.
What Actually Reopened in May
The Main Street Unionville Restoration ran in four phases, starting with watermain work on East Lane and Victoria Avenue back in 2024 and finishing with the reconstruction of Victoria Avenue itself, completed in spring 2026. The scope was genuinely large: relined watermains and storm sewers, full roadway reconstruction with brick pavers designed to match the historic look of the street, new curbs, expanded tree canopy, and accessibility upgrades to sidewalks and crossings. Markham's own project page frames this as infrastructure that hadn't been touched in roughly 40 years, according to the mayor's remarks at the reopening.
For residents and visitors, this is unambiguously good news. Foot traffic had thinned out during construction, and business owners along the strip are already reporting it picking back up. The timing lines up well with the Unionville Festival and the NTT IndyCar Series both landing in Markham this August.
None of that changes what happens when a homeowner inside the district applies to replace a roof, swap out windows, or build an addition.
The Permit Layer That Didn't Go Anywhere
Unionville was designated as Markham's third Heritage Conservation District back in 1997, under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act. That designation covers a defined boundary around Main Street, not just individually landmarked buildings. Practically, that means every property inside the line, whether it's a heritage-era home or a newer build that happens to sit within the district, needs approval before any exterior alteration, new construction, or demolition.
The city splits this into two tracks. Minor Heritage Permit applications cover the more routine work and are approved directly by Heritage staff once they're satisfied the proposal matches the district's design guidelines. Major Heritage Permit applications cover more substantial projects, including new residential builds, additions, exterior alterations, and expanded driveways, and those typically go in front of the Heritage Markham Committee before they're approved. According to industry estimates for the district, that committee review can add two to four months to a project timeline on top of standard building permit processing.
There's a useful exemption worth knowing too. Backyard patios, garden sheds, and gazebos that aren't visible from the street, and that don't already require a building permit, generally fall outside the heritage review process. So does routine vegetation planting or removal, aside from tree removal, which is handled separately. The line the city draws is essentially about visibility from the public realm. If it can be seen from Main Street or an adjacent public sidewalk, expect it to be reviewed.
What the Price Data Actually Says
Here's where the story gets more interesting than "heritage equals premium."
As of mid-2026, average listing prices across Unionville were sitting around $1.08 million, with an average of roughly $821 per square foot. That figure had actually softened by about 4.7% compared to a year earlier. Separately, market data pegged the average Unionville home listing at roughly 18% below the average listing price across Markham as a whole.
That second number surprises people. Unionville carries a reputation as one of the more desirable, more historic corners of Markham, and the instinct is to assume that reputation translates into a price premium over the rest of the city. It doesn't, at least not in the aggregate.
The explanation is mostly about what's being averaged together. Unionville's inventory spans everything from condos and townhomes on the neighborhood's outer edges to the handful of century-old estate properties that actually front onto Main Street and sit inside the heritage boundary itself. Those Main Street-adjacent properties, the ones actually subject to heritage permit review, are a small and distinct slice of the total listings. When you blend them with the much larger volume of standard townhomes and condos elsewhere in the neighborhood, the heritage premium gets diluted into a citywide average that reads lower than you'd expect.
The takeaway for a buyer or seller: don't use the neighborhood-wide average to price a heritage-designated property, and don't assume a heritage-designated property will price the same as a same-size home two streets over that isn't subject to any permit review at all.
What Triggers Which Permit
| Project type | Permit path | Who approves it |
|---|---|---|
| New windows, doors, siding, roofing visible from the street | Minor or Major, depending on scope | Heritage staff (minor) or Heritage Markham Committee (major) |
| Addition or new driveway | Major Heritage Permit | Heritage Markham Committee |
| New residential dwelling within the district | Major Heritage Permit | Heritage Markham Committee |
| Demolition of any structure | Major Heritage Permit Demolition Application | Council, with staff and committee review first |
| Backyard shed, gazebo, or patio not visible from the street | Generally exempt | Not required |
| Planting or removing non-tree vegetation | Generally exempt | Not required |
The pattern is straightforward once you see it laid out. Nearly everything visible from Main Street or a public sidewalk needs sign-off. Nearly everything tucked behind a fence, out of public view, doesn't.
Building a Timeline That Actually Works
If you're planning to sell a home inside the district this fall or next spring, the sequencing matters more than it would elsewhere in Markham. A homeowner outside the heritage boundary can decide in March to replace a front door and have it done in a weekend. Inside the boundary, that same front door replacement may need a Minor Heritage Permit reviewed and approved before a contractor can even start, and if it's tied to a larger renovation that crosses into Major Permit territory, you're realistically looking at a process that runs two to four months longer than you'd plan for anywhere else.
That's not a reason to avoid buying or renovating inside the district. It's a reason to start the conversation with Heritage staff early, before you've committed to a listing date or a contractor's schedule. Homeowners who build permit review into their timeline from the start tend to have a much smoother path than those who assume it's a formality they can handle after the fact.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every property in Unionville need a heritage permit, or just the historic buildings? Every property inside the district boundary, including newer construction, needs a Heritage Permit for exterior alterations. Designation applies to the district as a whole, not just individually recognized heritage buildings.
Do interior renovations need heritage approval? Generally no, unless the work affects a structural element tied to the building's heritage attributes. Most interior work proceeds under standard building permits.
How far in advance should I start the permit process before listing my home? If the work is exterior and visible from the street, plan for review time on top of whatever your contractor quotes for the build itself. For anything likely to require Major Heritage Permit review, budgeting several extra months before your target listing date is the safer approach.
If you're weighing a sale or a purchase near Main Street Unionville and want a clear read on how the heritage permit process fits into your timeline, Digalakis Real Estate can walk through what your specific property will and won't need before you commit to a date. Book a complimentary consultation and we'll help you plan the transaction around the district's actual rules, not the assumptions everyone else brings in.
