Draft Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists
Now available for pilot testing

The Ministry of Culture has been actively working to update the 1993 Archaeological Assessment Technical Guidelines. These are the standards and guidelines that licensed consultant archaeologists operating in Ontario must follow when conducting and reporting on archaeological fieldwork.

The ministry worked with an expert Technical Advisory Group, comprising external and ministry archaeologists, to update the 1993 Guidelines. This resulted in the draft document the Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists (2006).

Revised Draft Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists (2009)

The ministry is now releasing revised draft Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists (2009) for voluntary pilot testing during the 2009 archaeological fieldwork season.

• Draft Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists (2009)
  

The ministry has also prepared two draft technical bulletins, both of which are available for review and feedback during the pilot period.

The draft bulletin on Aboriginal engagement provides consultant archaeologists with additional guidance and resources for this important aspect of their professional practice.

• Draft Technical Bulletin: Engaging Aboriginal Communities in Archaeology (June 2009)

The second draft bulletin provides additional guidance to consultant archaeologists working in the forestry context.

• Draft Technical Bulletin: Forest Operations on Crown Land (June 2009)*

For a summary of changes that have been made to the draft Standards and Guidelines since the 2006 version, please follow this link:

• Summary of changes to draft Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists, 2006:2009

Monitoring the Pilot Period

MCL will work with the Association of Professional Archaeologists (APA) and the Ontario Archaeological Society (OAS) to monitor the pilot period (June-September 30, 2009). Please visit the APA and OAS websites for information about the process they’ve established to receive and consolidate comments from their members during the pilot.

• Association of Professional Archaeologists (APA)
• Ontario Archaeological Society (OAS)

If you are a licensed consultant archaeologist undertaking fieldwork between June and September 30, 2009, we encourage you to talk to your client about using this pilot period to ‘test’ these draft Standards and Guidelines in the field. If field-testing isn’t possible, we hope you will nevertheless take the time to review the draft Standards and Guidelines (2009) and provide what feedback you can to the APA/OAS or, if you prefer, directly to the ministry.

Here is a list of specific issues and questions you may wish to consider when reviewing/pilot-testing the draft Standard and Guidelines (2009).

• Issues and Discussion Topics - draft Standards and Guidelines (2009)*
  
  

While we strongly encourage consultant archaeologists and their clients to take the opportunity to pilot test the draft Standards and Guidelines (2009), archaeological fieldwork reports submitted during the pilot period will continue to be assessed against the requirements set out in the 1993 Archaeological Assessment Technical Guidelines. The 1993 Guidelines will continue to be in force until the new Standards and Guidelines are finalized and released for implementation.

Next Steps

The Ministry of Culture will consider all comments received from archaeologists, other stakeholders, and First Nations and Métis communities and organizations. The final version of the Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists will be released for mandatory implementation during the 2010 fieldwork season.

For more information, contact:
Malcolm Horne, Archaeology Review Officer
Culture Programs Unit
Ministry of Culture
416-314-7146
malcolm.horne@ontario.ca