Blog · Newmarket

Holiday lights on a heritage house in Newmarket's Main Street South district: what the plan does and does not cover

Seasonal clip-on lights that go up in November and come down in January leave nothing behind and are the natural fit for a house or shop in the Lower Main Street South Heritage Conservation District; permanent lighting fastened to a street-facing facade is a question for the Town's heritage planning staff before it is quoted.

Last updated October 28, 2026 · Reviewed by the Newmarket Christmas Lights team

Can I put Christmas lights on a heritage house in Newmarket?

Yes. Nothing in the Town of Newmarket's Lower Main Street South Heritage Conservation District Plan addresses temporary or seasonal decorations, and clip-on holiday lights are temporary in the plainest sense: they hang on the eavestrough and trim for a few weeks and come off without a mark. What the District Plan does care about is permanent change to what the public sees. That distinction, temporary versus permanent and in view versus out of view, decides almost every heritage lighting question on these streets.

Is my house inside the district?

Check the boundary before anything else. The District Plan describes the district as Main Street from the crest of the hill in the north down to Water Street, plus all of Cedar Street and short sections of Millard Avenue, Park Avenue, Botsford Street and Timothy Street. Heritage conservation districts in Ontario are designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act, and inside one the municipality reviews certain kinds of exterior change. If your house is a block outside those streets, the district rules do not apply to it, although an individually designated property has its own designation to consider. The Town's heritage district page and the Plan itself are the authorities, and the Main Street South area page summarises the streets.

What does the District Plan let owners do without a heritage permit?

Section 6.2 of the Plan lists minor work that is exempt from heritage review. Among the items:

routine exterior maintenance;
replacing eavestroughs and downspouts;
painting surfaces that are not masonry;
installing mechanical or electrical equipment away from public view.

The Plan also says that erecting a sign and adding architectural features do need a heritage permit. Read together, that is a useful guide. Seasonal lights clipped to an eavestrough are neither a sign nor an architectural feature, and they are gone by February. A fixed lighting channel on a street-facing eave is electrical equipment in public view, which is outside the listed exemption, so it is not something to assume either way.

How should seasonal lights be hung on a heritage house?

Around the architecture, and without a single fastener in the building. The houses and storefronts in the district are brick and clapboard with steep gables, porches, bay windows and decorative trim. A light plan that suits them is trim-led:

Gables traced with clips on the shingle tabs or drip edge, meeting at the peak.
Porches outlined, with columns and railings wrapped rather than lit with a long straight run.
Windows framed with clips on the trim or brick ledge. Nothing is drilled into masonry or old wood for a seasonal display.
The front-yard tree lit as the centrepiece. On these streets a wrapped maple or spruce often does more than another length of roofline. See tree and landscape lighting.

The Electrical Safety Authority's holiday guidance sets the electrical standard: lights rated for outdoor use with a recognised Canadian approval mark, GFCI protection on outdoor connections, proper clips rather than staples or nails, and connections kept off the ground and away from walkways. Older houses on these streets often have overhead service drops crossing the front yard, sometimes through the tree you want lit. ESA asks for at least three metres between any ladder or decorated tree and an overhead line, and a tree that cannot be lit with that clearance is lit lower or not at all.

What about permanent lighting on a heritage property?

Talk to the Town first. Permanent lighting is a channel fastened under the eave and wired to a power supply, and on a street-facing elevation it is visible equipment. Whether a particular installation needs a heritage permit is the Town's decision, not this site's and not the installer's. For a property inside the district, the installer will not quote a permanent system until you have raised it with the Town's heritage planning staff. On a side or rear elevation out of public view, the answer may be simpler, but the same call settles it.

If permanent lighting does go ahead, the details that matter on an older house are the same ones heritage staff tend to care about: a channel colour that disappears against the trim, a layout that follows the trim rather than flattening it, and wiring that does not run down the face of the building. Any new outlet is work for a Licensed Electrical Contractor, who files a notification with ESA before starting.

What about shops and businesses on Main Street South?

The same principles apply, with one addition: the Plan treats signs as needing a heritage permit, so anything that reads as signage, such as lit lettering or a logo, is a different conversation from garland and window outlines. Storefront displays are usually window outlines, garland and lights on awnings and cornices, and planters, installed outside trading hours; the commercial holiday lighting page covers them. The Town's Santa Claus Parade runs down this street: in 2023 it stepped off from Eagle Street and Main Street on Saturday 18 November at 11 a.m., so shops that want to be lit for the crowd book the install for early November. Check the Town's notice for this year's date.

When should a heritage-district install be booked?

In October, for an install in November. Environment and Climate Change Canada's 1981 to 2010 normals for the King Smoke Tree station, a few kilometres southwest of Newmarket, give December an average high of -0.4 °C and about 27 cm of snow. Older roofs with steep gables are slower work than a newer two-storey, and they are much slower on frosty shingles. Ontario's O. Reg. 213/91 requires fall protection where a worker could fall more than three metres, and the crew sets it up at each gable.

What does it cost?

It depends on the gables, porches, trees and height, and on whether the lights are supplied. The Newmarket cost guide explains what moves the number. To get a written quote, send a photo of the front through the quote form and say whether the house is inside the district.

Sources

Request a Quote

Call 289-513-5438 or send the form and we will get back to you within one business day.