The Act regulates the export and import of cultural property; provides for grants to assist with the purchase of cultural property under certain circumstances; and provides for special tax incentives to encourage Canadians to donate or sell important cultural objects to designated institutions and public authorities based in Canada.

For the purposes of the Act, cultural property must be movable, that is, capable of being transported from one place to another; and it need not be Canadian in origin. The concept of cultural property incorporates a wide variety of objects ranging from works of art to archaeological artifacts, military objects to archival material, ethnographic material to decorative arts, and scientific to musical instruments.

As part of exercising its responsibilities, CCPERB must first confirm that the cultural property in question is of outstanding significance by reason of its close association with Canadian history or national life, its aesthetic qualities, or its value in the study of the arts or sciences; and is such a degree of national importance that its loss to Canada would significantly diminish the national heritage.

Administrative services to the Review Board are provided through the Department of Canadian Heritage by the Movable Cultural Property Secretariat. All Review Board files are housed with the Secretariat. The personal information they contain pertains to members of the Review Board, minutes of Review Board deliberations, recommendations for grants and loans under the CPEIA, and requests for the review of export permit application that have been denied, applications for the certification of cultural property submitted by or on behalf of donors or vendors, files on special advisors to the Review Board, and access to information requests. Applications are filed by number but, in the case of export review and certification applications, they can be accessed through a manual cross-index or automated system containing the name, address of the applicant, donor/vendor and recipient institution. Review Board member files are maintained in alphabetical order.