Cultural Heritage

ASI was founded in response to increasing public awareness of the importance of Ontario’s heritage resources. We began our operations with a focus on providing archaeological consulting services, but quickly began to apply a more holistic and comprehensive approach to cultural heritage management. Our leadership team formally expanded our range of services to include heritage planning services with the development of a dedicated Cultural Heritage Division in the late 1990s.

With over 20 years experience, ASI’s Cultural Heritage Division offers a specialized and integrated approach to the delivery of cultural heritage policy development, and the management of built heritage resources and cultural heritage landscapes. Our work is wide-ranging and reflects the unique expertise of our staff in both urban and rural contexts. Our dedicated and multidisciplinary team brings together historians, policy advisors, cultural landscape theorists, anthropologists, and cultural heritage specialists who together employ a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to provide built heritage and cultural heritage landscape services. The Division is comprised of individuals with specialties in: historical and archival research; historical context statements; building surveys; cultural heritage landscape assessments; heritage evaluations using provincial criteria; statement of significance writing; condition assessments; development of conservation planning documents; interpretative and commemorative planning; and design and execution of public, stakeholder and Indigenous engagement programs.

Our team has extensive experience preparing assessments required for undertakings subject to the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act, including all Class Environmental Assessments in the Province of Ontario, Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, Transit Project Assessment Process, Environmental Protection Act, Planning Act, Ontario Heritage Act, municipal Official Plans, Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Provincial Heritage Properties; and Ontario Heritage Bridge Guidelines.

The Division works across and with all other ASI business areas. Through our depth of experience, integrated approach, and resource capacity we are able to provide the following above ground heritage services:

Built Heritage and Cultural Heritage Landscape Technical Services

  • Cultural heritage assessment and evaluation reports
  • Statement of Significance writing
  • Application of Ontario Heritage Act Regulations 9/06 and 10/06
  • Streetscape and public realm heritage evaluation and analysis
  • Heritage conservation district studies and plans
  • Heritage Impact Assessments for private and public sector clients
  • Large-scale built form and cultural landscape surveys
  • Historical context statements
  • Condition assessments
  • Landscape visibility studies
  • Bridge evaluations
  • Landscape and building documentation reports
  • Mitigation strategy development
  • Conservation plan strategy development

Heritage Content Development and Planning

  • Thematic, archival,  and oral historical research
  • Environmental landscape research
  • Interpretative strategy and program development
  • Commemorative content development
  • Geo-coded/GIS-ready  building and cultural heritage landscape inventories

Heritage Policy, Protocol, and Program Development

  • Cultural landscape policy development
  • Policy analysis and development for Official Plans, Master Plans, and Secondary Plans
  • Stakeholder consultation program development and implementation
  • Guideline and protocol development for municipalities and public sector agencies
Let us provide you with a quote for your project.