I'm pretty sure that the Upper Canadian settlers didn't have power centres, but maybe that's just a failure of imagination on my part.
Ancaster's policymakers are only half-serious about heritage, which is a shame given the history of the place. I remember the stink they put up with Tim Hortons' original Ancaster franchise near Wilson and Halson -- they finessed a stonework build that was architecturally more in line with a century cottage than an offramp drivethru. That franchise is now gone -- it's home to Celli's. There were unique aspects to Ancaster, but the last 20 years of development have erased most of that. A goodly share of the town's significant architectural heritage is showcased in stone buildings along Wilson East from Hendry to Halson.
The "character" issue dates back further than the 1980s.
This page from the City of Hamilton's website describes a century of suburban influence, maybe the most enduring aspect of Ancaster's heritage:
"With the construction of the Hamilton and Brantford Electric Railway reached as far as Ancaster in 1907, the character of the village started to change. More and more Hamilton businessmen found it convenient to work in the city’s downtown core, commuting back and forth to their homes in the expanding residential surveys in Ancaster."