Heritage Framework Transformation: Proposals related to Ontario’s Archaeology Program, including targeted changes to the Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists

Background on Ontario’s Archaeology Framework

The Ontario Heritage Act (OHA) provides that only an archaeologist licensed under Part VI of the OHA can alter a known archaeological site or remove an artifact. Land use planning processes require an archaeological assessment be undertaken by a licensed consultant archaeologist (LCA) in in advance of any ground disturbance or development to meet the requirements of the approval process. 

MCM regulates the archaeological profession by licensing archaeologists under the OHA. The Minister sets terms and conditions for archaeological licences. This includes requiring LCAs to follow standards for fieldwork and reporting that are set out in the 2011 Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists (Standards and Guidelines), which are issued by the Minister. 

The Standards and Guidelines set out a four-stage archaeological assessment process: 

• Stage 1: background study to confirm whether a property proposed for development has the potential to contain archaeological sites.
• Stage 2: property assessment to search for artifacts and confirm if archaeological sites are present.
• Stage 3: test excavations of the archaeological site(s), to identify the size and extent of any sites as well as their cultural heritage value or interest (CHVI). This includes requirements to engage interested Indigenous communities when assessing some types of sites and when formulating strategies to mitigate development impacts to such sites.
• Stage 4: mitigation of development impacts, either through site excavation, avoidance and long-term protection of the site, or a combination of the two.

Not all projects/sites require all stages. The stages required depend on whether archaeological sites are found and whether those sites meet the criteria in the Standards and Guidelines for additional assessment. MCM reviews archaeological assessment reports to ensure that an LCA’s fieldwork and reporting comply with the Standards and Guidelines and the terms and conditions of their licence. 

Heritage Framework Transformation

In November of 2024, MCM launched the Heritage Framework Transformation (HFT). This transformation aims to future-proof Ontario’s heritage framework by streamlining processes, updating policies and legislation, and modernizing standards and guidelines. These improvements will help regulatory systems keep pace with growing demands, support efficient economic and infrastructure development and strengthen collaboration in identifying and conserving cultural heritage resources.  

Over the past year MCM has undertaken preliminary consultations with stakeholders to inform a path forward for HFT. MCM also initiated consultations with Indigenous communities in September 2025 to discuss themes and early proposals within the HFT initiative. These early, targeted changes to Ontario’s archaeology program include proposals announced in June 2025 as part of the government’s Spring 2025 Red Tape Reduction package. 

As MCM moves forward with incremental changes to update Ontario’s heritage framework, it is seeking feedback from the archaeology and heritage sectors, municipalities, proponents and the public on two proposals that are outlined below. MCM is also continuing to consult and engage directly with Indigenous communities and organizations on these proposals.     

1. Proposed changes to the Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists

The ministry is proposing initial targeted changes to the Standards and Guidelines to streamline archaeological assessments and modernize the document through administrative updates.

New Standards for ‘Limited Assessments’ (assessments of parts of properties)

Currently, there are no standards that set out how limited assessments would be conducted within Stage 1 and 2 of the archaeological assessment process. 

Operationally, MCM has allowed limited Stage 1 and 2 assessments as an exception to the standards that require an entire property be assessed. These exceptions have been allowed on a case-by-case basis to deal with situations where only a small portion of the property will be impacted by ground disturbance or development. 

These proposed changes would align with and complement the partial clearance of properties (see below).

In summary, the draft standards would update Stage 1 and 2 assessment standards and include:

• Prescribing recommendations that would allow LCAs to state that parts of properties require no further archaeological assessment, based on criteria set out in the Standards and Guidelines.
• Updating mapping standards to clearly delineate areas that do and do not require further archaeological assessment.
• Adding further definitions within the Standards and Guidelines to ensure clarity of requirements. This includes providing a clear definition of “project area” to define and scope the limits of the assessment. 

Changes to the existing ‘Partial Clearance’ process

The existing ‘partial clearance’ process is intended to allow development on part of a property, while archaeological site(s) in other parts of the property continue to be assessed/mitigated. Currently the Standards and Guidelines include optional standards for LCAs to recommend partial clearance with protective buffers for archaeological sites at the end of Stage 2, following the identification of those sites. However, this option is not consistently used, risking impacts to the archaeological sites. 

The proposed standards would recommend a 50m protective buffer be established around any archaeological site(s) of further CHVI at the end of Stage 2. Areas outside of the protective buffer(s), that were subject to assessment but of no further archaeological concern, would be recommended as ‘cleared’ for approval authorities to determine if development can commence upon entry of the assessment report into the Ontario Public Register of Archaeological Reports. 

The LCA would be required to obtain a signed, standardized letter from the proponent or landowner acknowledging the archaeological site(s) and committing to avoid any impacts within the protected area. This document would be submitted to the ministry as part of the archaeologists’ project report package.

The draft updated standards are included in the attachment below. Updates throughout the existing Standards and Guidelines document were required to incorporate and implement these changes. Changes have been highlighted throughout the document for ease of reference and review.

Administrative Updates

As part of the proposed initial updates to the Standards and Guidelines, additional targeted administrative updates are proposed, such as updating terminology and removing unnecessary guidelines and obsolete standards. These changes are intended to streamline requirements, modernize the document and reflect evolved administrative practices. A full list of the changes can be found below in the attachments below. 

Following this posting, feedback received will be considered in finalizing this first phase of updates to the standards. The final updated standards will be posted on the Ontario.ca website for 60 days before coming into effect during the 2026 field season. Once in effect, all LCAs working in Ontario will be required to follow the new standards as a term and condition of their licence. 

Note, as part of broader HFT efforts, the Ministry will be reviewing the Standards and Guidelines to assess what changes will be required to support the new framework. 

Regulatory Impact Assessment

These proposed changes to the Standards and Guidelines would provide indirect time savings to LCAs (regulated entities). Improved understanding of regulatory requirements should help improve compliance outcomes and limit the need to seek advice and confirmation from MCM. This would result in faster regulatory reviews which would reduce timelines and costs caused by multiple rounds of report revisions.

Proponents would likely see direct and indirect time and cost savings from both proposed changes by limiting the areas requiring assessment or further assessment, and faster development approvals as a result of quicker regulatory reviews of reports. 

2. Proposed Criteria for Evaluating LCA Compliance

To help improve consumer confidence, support the effective conservation of archaeological sites, and to support developing an enhanced risk-based framework for regulatory oversight, MCM is proposing criteria for evaluating the compliance records of LCAs. The criteria that MCM is considering includes:

• Whether the LCA has met the Terms and Conditions for Archaeological Licences, including:
  • Compliance with the Standards and Guidelines through an analysis of regulatory review outcomes related to an LCA’s work.
    • For example, MCM could look at how LCAs demonstrate through their reporting that they have met Indigenous engagement requirements, the number of report resubmissions, number of reports deemed incomplete or non-compliant, while also taking into consideration the volume of work completed by an LCA.
  • Consideration of any special conditions placed on the licence because of previous non-compliance, and compliance with these special conditions.
  • Being a member in good standing of an archaeological organization with a code of ethics or code of conduct.
• Whether any licensing action has ever been taken against the LCA (suspension, revocation, refusal to renew).
• Whether the LCA has ever committed an offence related to the discharge of the obligations under their licence. 

MCM is open to suggestions of other criteria related to LCAs’ compliance records and/or licensee qualifications, including those that might require other potential policy changes. For example, MCM heard through consultation with Indigenous communities that the archaeological consulting sector would benefit from training or courses related to Indigenous cultural protocols, safety and traditional knowledge. While not currently required, MCM could explore program changes to establish such a requirement for LCAs. 

Any criteria that are established for LCA’s would be objective and measurable. 

The evaluation of an LCAs’ compliance based on the proposed criteria would be used to inform other program and policy changes, such as a proposal to remove the requirement to renew a licence for LCAs who demonstrate strong compliance. 

Regulatory Impact Assessment

Developing criteria for evaluating an LCA’s compliance record would not have an immediate impact on the regulated entity but may be used to inform future proposals that could focus regulatory compliance actions and resources to areas of high non-compliance, consistent with one of the principles of the government’s burden reduction directive. A framework for evaluating compliance and using that to inform regulatory compliance oversight and enforcement actions could help improve consumer confidence.