Blog · Kitchener

Christmas lights on a heritage house in Victoria Park, Civic Centre, St. Mary's or Upper Doon

Seasonal lights on clips that grip the shingle edge or eavestrough lip and come off in January change nothing on a heritage house, so they are the way Kitchener's district homes are lit; anything screwed to the building, including permanent track, is a question for the City's heritage staff before it is ordered.

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

Do I need a permit to put Christmas lights on a heritage house in Kitchener?

Not for clip-on seasonal lights that attach to nothing permanently and come down in January, because they do not change the building. The City of Kitchener says owners in its heritage conservation districts may need a heritage permit for changes to the building or property, and its page says nothing about seasonal decorations, so the safe reading is simple: if it is temporary and leaves no mark, it is decorating; if it is fastened to the house, ask first. The City's heritage permit inquiry line is 519-741-2426.

Kitchener has four heritage conservation districts: St. Mary's, Upper Doon, Victoria Park and Civic Centre. If you are not sure whether your street is inside one, the City's heritage page has the maps.

What makes these houses different to light?

Four things: height, trim, masonry and wiring.

Height. The brick Italianates, Queen Annes and Edwardian foursquares around Victoria Park and in Civic Centre often put the eave six metres up and the gable apex above eight. Ontario's construction regulation requires fall protection where a worker could fall more than three metres, which covers almost every gable in these districts. Some apexes are reached with a lift.
Trim. Bargeboard, brackets, porch spindles and window casings have been painted for a century or more. A screw or staple into them is permanent damage, and adhesive hooks pull paint when they come off.
Masonry. Old soft-brick mortar is not a place for nails or anchors. A hole in a mortar joint lets water in, and the freeze-thaw of a Kitchener winter does the rest.
Wiring. Older houses commonly have one exterior outlet, often at the back, and it may not be GFCI protected. Some have none.

How are the lights attached without damaging anything?

With plastic clips chosen for each surface, and nothing else. On the roof edge, clips grip the shingle edge or slide onto the eavestrough lip. Up a gable rake, they follow the shingle line, not the bargeboard. On porch columns and railings, strings are wrapped and tied, not stapled. Around windows, clips sit on the frame or brick return, not on painted casing. When everything comes down in January, the house looks exactly as it did in October.

One caution specific to older Kitchener houses: many still have spike-hung eavestroughs. Clips designed for the gutter lip slide off cleanly. A frozen string yanked from below can lever a section of gutter away from the fascia. That is why takedown is done by hand from the ladder, clip by clip, and waits for a thaw if the clips are frozen in. More on that on the takedown and storage page.

What about power on a house with one outlet?

Design around it, or fix it properly. The Electrical Safety Authority asks that outdoor lights be plugged into GFCI-protected outlets, that connections be kept off the ground and away from puddles and walkways, that cords and circuits not be overloaded, and that cords never be run through doors or windows. On a narrow Victoria Park lot with a single rear outlet, that usually means one of three approaches:

Size the display to the outlet. LED draws far less than old incandescent strings, so a roofline, porch and wreath can often share one GFCI-protected circuit if the runs are planned.
Add an outlet. A licensed electrical contractor installs a proper exterior outlet at the front. On a district house, the location is chosen so it does not cut into original trim.
Use battery for small pieces. Wreaths and garland on the door can run on batteries, freeing the circuit for the roofline.

What is not done: a cord fed through a front window, a power bar on the porch floor, or an indoor-rated string outside. Health Canada adds that lights should carry a certification mark from an accredited agency such as CSA, cUL or cETL, and that frayed or damaged strings be discarded. On a house with old wiring those rules matter more, not less.

What design suits a heritage house?

Restraint usually reads better than volume. A few principles that work on Kitchener's district streets:

Warm white on red and buff brick. Cool white can look blue against old brick at dusk.
Trace the architecture. Light the main eave, the gable rakes to the apex and the porch roof edge. Those lines are what make the house recognisable at night.
Light the porch, not every window. Deep porches are the heart of these houses. A lit porch roof and wrapped columns does more than outlining every opening.
Use the trees. Older districts have mature trees. A wrapped trunk, kept three metres clear of the overhead service line as the Electrical Safety Authority advises, adds depth without touching the house. See tree and landscape lighting.

Upper Doon is a different kind of heritage

Upper Doon's historic buildings line Doon Village Road and date from the 1840s to the 1890s, including the 1844 birthplace of painter Homer Watson at 1021 Doon Village Road. These are lower stone and frame houses on larger lots than Victoria Park, with more garden and tree around them. The same rule applies: clips only, nothing fixed. But the emphasis shifts from the roofline to the landscape, where a lit fence line, a wrapped tree and a lit doorway suit a village house better than a busy eave. Directly south, Doon South is new construction where permanent track is a straightforward option; the two are a few minutes apart and are very different jobs.

Can I ever have permanent lighting on a district house?

Possibly, but the City decides, not the installer. A permanent track is fastened to fascia, soffit or trim, which is a change to the building. Call the heritage permit line with the proposed placement before ordering anything. On many district houses, the honest outcome is that seasonal clip-on lighting, installed and removed by someone else each year, gives the owner most of the benefit with none of the permit question. For planning numbers on either route, see the cost guide, and to have the house looked at, send a note with photos.

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