Project Information Forms

Protocols and Support for Licensed Archaeologists Using Ontario’s Past Portal

Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport

2013

Contact us: If you have any questions or concerns about the information in this document,

please send us an inquiry through PastPort or by email to Archaeology@Ontario.ca.

© Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2012

ISBN 978-1-4435-6873-9 (Print) ISBN 978-1-4435-6874-6 (HTML) ISBN 978-1-4435-6875-3 (PDF)

Contents 1 Overview ...................................................................................................................................1

2 Project Information Forms ..........................................................................................................2

2.1 PIF numbers ........................................................................................................................2

2.2 How the ministry uses the information on the PIF ................................................................2

3 Why PIFs are important for meeting the Terms and Conditions of your licence ............................4

3.1 Responsibilities of consultant archaeologists .......................................................................4

4 How to submit a PIF ...................................................................................................................5

5 When to submit a PIF .................................................................................................................6

5.1 Important timelines for submitting PIFs ...............................................................................6

5.2 When not to submit a PIF ....................................................................................................7

5.3 Combinations of archaeological fieldwork activit ies you can include .....................................7

5.4 How to submit PIFs and reports for large or complex archaeological assessment projects .....7

5.5 How to make changes to a PIF..............................................................................................8

5.5.1 Changes to the project after the start of fieldwork ..........................................................8

5.5.2 Changes to the project before the start of fieldwork .......................................................9

5.6 How to cancel a PIF .............................................................................................................9

5.7 How to report on additional fieldwork after a report for the project has been

entered into the register ......................................................................................................9

5.8 What to do if the fieldwork activities you plan are different from those you

recommended in the preceding report ................................................................................ 10

6 How the ministry processes PIFs ............................................................................................... 11

6.1 Report filing deadlines ....................................................................................................... 11

7 How to get advice from the ministry ......................................................................................... 13

8 Glossary ................................................................................................................................... 14

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1 Overview

This document contains information about archaeological project information forms (PIFs) for

archaeologists licensed by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport (the ministry).

The procedures outlined in this document help to establish and maintain a consistent process for

licensed archaeologists to submit PIFs to the ministry and for ministry staff to process them.

These procedures help licensed archaeologists meet the Terms and Conditions of their licence.

The six sections in this document:

explain what PIFs are and how the ministry uses the information on them;

provide information on why submitting PIFs to the ministry correctly is important in

helping you meet the Terms and Conditions of your archaeological licence and keeping

your licence in good standing;

detail how to submit PIFs to the ministry;

detail when to submit PIFs to the ministry

provide information on how the ministry processes PIFs and issues PIF numbers and

report filing deadlines;

guide you on how to seek advice from the ministry on proposed methods or approaches to

archaeological fieldwork.

This information will be helpful to any licensed archaeologist who carries out any kind of

archaeological project in Ontario. The document also contains information for archaeologists

acting as consultants, which you can find in text beside the vertical bars throughout the

document and in Sections 3, 5 and 7.

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2 Project Information Forms

As a licensed archaeologist you must complete and submit a Project Information Form (PIF) to

the ministry each time you are about to begin a new archaeological project. The PIF provides the

ministry with important information about the project that you are planning, including the

location of the project, the fieldwork activities that you plan to undertake and who the licensed

field directors will be.

Information for consultant archaeologists: Standards for submitting PIFs

The standards you must follow for completing PIFs and submitting them to the ministry can be found in Section 7 of the Standards and Guidelines.

2.1 PIF numbers

Once the ministry receives your PIF, we will process it and assign a PIF number to your project.

By submitting a PIF to the ministry, you are requesting a PIF number for the project you have

described on the form.

The PIF number acts as a tracking number for the report that you will eventually file to document

the project.

Information for consultant archaeologists: Citing the PIF number

The Standards and Guidelines state:

“The PIF number must be used in all correspondence and reports relating to the project.” (Section 7.1, Standard 4).

For archaeological consulting projects, the PIF number will apply only to the specific stages of

archaeological assessment that you selected when you submitted the form. For non-consulting

projects, the PIF number will apply only to the specific archaeological activities you described

on the form.

2.2 How the ministry uses the information on the PIF

The ministry uses information on PIFs to:

ensure that your licence is in good standing when you intend to carry out new the

fieldwork project;

confirm that the field director for the project has an valid licence;

establish the deadline for the report that you must file with the ministry to document the

project and inform the public record (see Section 6.1);

contact proponents and approval authorities if issues arise over a specific project;

generate statistics to track and analyze archaeological activity in the province.

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The ministry does not generally review or comment on information provided on PIFs. The fact

that the ministry has assigned a PIF number to your project does not in any way guarantee that

the ministry supports the fieldwork that you are planning. If you are unsure whether your

fieldwork meets ministry requirements, including the 2011 Standards and Guidelines for

Consultant Archaeologists, you can ask for formal advice from the ministry before or during

fieldwork. See Section 7.

Information for consultant archaeologists: Ministry support for your proposed archaeological fieldwork strategies

The ministry will let you know that your strategy for the archaeological fieldwork that you have planned meets the Standards and Guidelines through a report review letter.

For example, if, at the end of a Stage 1 report you have recommended the Stage 2 assessment of a property and your Stage 2 fieldwork strategy, as you have outlined in your recommendations, meets the Standards and Guidelines, the ministry will send you a report review letter indicating that your recommendations for further fieldwork are ‘compliant’ with the Standards and Guidelines.

If your recommendations do not meet the Standards and Guidelines you will receive a report review letter letting you know that the ministry has concerns with your recommendations.

For more information on report review letters see Archaeological Reports: Protocols and

Support for Licensed Archaeologists Using Ontario’s Past Portal.

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3 Why PIFs are important for meeting the Terms and Conditions of your licence

The ministry regulates archaeology in the province by licensing archaeologists. Because the

licensing system does not involve project-specific permits, the Ontario government created PIFs

as a tool for licensed archaeologists to notify the ministry each time they are about to begin a

new fieldwork project. The Terms and Conditions of your licence are tied to PIFs in many ways.

To meet the Terms and Conditions of your licence, you must receive the PIF number before you

begin any new fieldwork activities or stages of archaeological assessment. If you start work

without receiving a PIF number or otherwise fail to meet the terms and conditions of your

licence, you may affect your record of licence compliance. You could also lose your license.

All archaeologists who carry out archaeological fieldwork in Ontario must hold a valid licence

issued by the ministry. You must also make sure that all field directors on your project also have

valid licences. Each time you submit a PIF the ministry checks to make sure that both you and

any field directors you have listed have valid licences and are eligible to carry out fieldwork.

Under the Terms and Conditions, you must also file these archaeological documents by their

deadlines:

reports

revised reports

site forms

If you do not meet these deadlines, you will not eligible to begin new archaeological projects.

The PIF number on your project report package allows the ministry to confirm that you have

filed all documents for your project by their deadlines and that you have met your reporting

obligations for the project (see Section 6.1).

3.1 Responsibilities of consultant archaeologists

The ministry considers a consultant archaeologist to be any archaeologist who:

enters into an agreement with a client to carry out or supervise archaeological fieldwork

on behalf of the client;

produces reports for a client; or

provides technical advice to a client.

Consultants must also follow the Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists.

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4 How to submit a PIF

File all PIFs with the ministry through Ontario’s Past Portal (PastPort). PastPort includes an

online project information form. You can find on-screen instructions on how to complete the PIF

in PastPort.

You are responsible for completing the PIF accurately. To submit a PIF you must upload all

supporting documentation to PastPort as attachments, including a map that shows the location of

your fieldwork project. The ministry may sometimes request other supporting documentation.

Information for consultant archaeologists: Signing the PIF

The Standards and Guidelines state:

“The PIF must be signed and filed by the licensed archaeologist who is responsible for the archaeological fieldwork and for filing the project report.” (Section 7.1, Standard 2).

When filing the PIF through PastPort you will be sending it to the ministry from your personal PastPort account. Each PIF document submitted to the ministry through your PastPort account is automatically stamped with your personal information that we have on file in the system. This stamp acts as the signature for the PIF, meaning that you do not physically have to sign PIFs submitted through PastPort.

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5 When to submit a PIF

You must submit a PIF to the ministry before starting any new archaeological fieldwork project

or stage of archaeological assessment. You must be receive a PIF number for the project before

you begin any work. This applies to all licensed archaeologists.

Information for consultant archaeologists: When to submit a PIF

The Standards and Guidelines state:

“A PIF must be filed with the ministry for each archaeological fieldwork project, and the PIF must be received by the licensee before beginning the fieldwork.” (Section 7.1, Standard 1).

Ontario Regulation 170/04 defines “archaeological fieldwork” to mean “any activity carried out

on, above or under land or water for the purpose of obtaining and documenting data, recovering

artifacts and remains or altering an archaeological site and includes monitoring, assessing,

exploring, surveying, recovering and excavating”.

Based on this definition of fieldwork, you must submit a PIF any time you plan to:

carry out fieldwork in Ontario for any kind of archaeological project;

visit a property and carry out any of the fieldwork activities described in the Standards

and Guidelines;

visit a development project area or nearby adjacent lands to collect new or additional

information that will affect your recommendations about archaeological resources or sites

that may be present within the limits of that development project;

develop an archaeological management plan (AMP);

do any work under your archaeological licence as part of a Funeral, Burial and

Cremation Services Act investigation.

PIFs are required only for fieldwork that will be carried out on land. If you are planning

underwater fieldwork you will need an underwater licence for each new project. For more

information contact the ministry at: Archaeological.Licensing@ontario.ca.

5.1 Important timelines for submitting PIFs

Submit all PIFs between 5 and 15 business days before your project starts. Submit all PIFs with

enough lead time (at least 5 business days) to allow the ministry to process them and issue PIF

numbers before the anticipated project start dates (see Section 6).

PastPort will not allow you to submit PIFs more than 15 business days before the project starts.

This helps make sure that you provide the most up-to-date information on the PIF.

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5.2 When not to submit a PIF

The information in this section applies to consultant archaeologists who may submit PIFs to the

ministry for archaeological assessment projects.

You do not need to submit a PIF if you are only providing the following archaeological

consulting services to your client but are not undertaking any of the activities l isted in the

section above:

advising on archaeological fieldwork strategies after a desktop review of available

information;

advising on options for reducing the impact on archaeological sites that upcoming

development projects will affect;

visiting a property to get information to help you bid on a contract for a project.

5.3 Combinations of archaeological fieldwork activities you can include

If you hold an Avocational or Applied Research licence you may submit PIFs for any

combination of archaeological fieldwork activities allowable under your licence (see the Terms

and Conditions of your licence).

Information for consultant archaeologists: Combinations allowed when selecting archaeological assessment stages for your PIF

You can only combine Stage 1 and 2 on a single PIF.

You cannot combine any other stages of fieldwork on a PIF. Each Stage 3 and 4 PIF can only be for fieldwork on a single archaeological site.

Other combinations of stages are allowed in archaeological reports. See Archaeological Reports: Protocols and Support for Licensed Archaeologists Using Ontario’s Past Portal

You may need to submit several PIFs for the archaeological assessment of a single property. Depending on the circumstances of the project, you may need to submit separate PIFs may need to be submitted for:

each individual stage of archaeological assessment that you require for the site;

different areas of the property, if you are assessing them at different times;

each archaeological site at which Stage 3 assessment will take place;

each archaeological site at which Stage 4 mitigation is needed.

5.4 How to submit PIFs and reports for large or complex archaeological assessment projects

The information in this section applies to PIFs for archaeological assessment projects that

consultant archaeologists may submit to the ministry.

Some archaeological assessment projects may involve large areas, a number of landowners or

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multi-year project schedules (for example, block plans or secondary plans, 400-series highways).

The ministry has established a system to help you keep track of large and complex projects.

To help you to manage the project, the ministry will open a review file for the project . The

review file will make co-ordinating multiple PIFS and the ministry’s review of the project easier.

You may ask for a file number by emailing ArchaeologyReports@Ontario.ca.

Cite the file number on all PIFs, reports and correspondence that you submit to the ministry for

the project. Engaging in a discussion with the ministry about a large project may also help you

minimize the number of PIFs and reports that will be necessary.

5.5 How to make changes to a PIF

You cannot change a PIF once you have received a PIF number.

Information for consultant archaeologists: Amendments to a PIF

The Standards and Guidelines state:

“Amendments cannot be made to a PIF once the PIF number is issued” (Section 7.1, Standard 5).

However, the ministry understands that sometimes your project will change unexpectedly and

that results in the information in your eventual report not matching the information you provided

on the PIF.

5.5.1 Changes to the project after the start of fieldwork

If changes to your project occur after you begin fieldwork, make sure that the report that you file

for the project clearly outlines all of the changes and why they occurred.

Such changes may include:

changes to the boundaries of the study area you are investigating;

change of the planned fieldwork start date;

changes to the responsible licensee or field director;

instances where the proponent has changed or the proponent’s contact information has

changed.

Information for consultant archaeologists: Changing the responsible licensee

The Standards and Guidelines state:

“A licensee taking over responsibility for an ongoing project, either during a stage or between stages, must file a new PIF for the remainder of the project.” (Section 7.1, Standard 3)

.

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5.5.2 Changes to the project before the start of fieldwork

If changes to your project occur before you begin fieldwork, you must submit a new PIF for the

project and, at the same time, cancel the original PIF (see next section).

To do this, submit a new PIF for the project through PastPort. Ask to cancel your original PIF in

an attachment to the PIF. Your request to cancel the PIF must explain why you need to cancel it.

5.6 How to cancel a PIF

You can ask to cancel a PIF number only when you have not carried out any fieldwork for the

project. If you have begun fieldwork on any part of the project area, you must file a report to

document all fieldwork that you have carried out so far.

You may cancel a PIF number if:

you plan to change your project and you have not yet begun fieldwork;

your fieldwork project has been significantly delayed;

your fieldwork project has been cancelled.

You can cancel a PIF number through PastPort. Go to the overview screen of the PIF you would

like to cancel and use the ‘Ask a Question’ feature to ask to cancel the PIF number. All requests

must be accompanied by the reasons for the cancellation.

If you would like to request a cancellation of a PIF for which a PIF number has not yet been

issued, submit a cancellation request through PastPort using the Inquiry module.

Information for consultant archaeologists: Report filing deadlines for cancelled and delayed projects

The Standards and Guidelines state:

“If no fieldwork is undertaken (e.g., the project is cancelled or delayed) the licensee must notify the ministry in writing prior to the report filing deadline, or the ministry will consider the report to be overdue.” (Section 7.1, Standard 7)

5.7 How to report on additional fieldwork after a report for the project has been entered into the register

Once you have filed a report with the ministry under a PIF number and ministry staff have

entered into the Ontario Public Register of Archaeological Reports, the ministry will not accept

further fieldwork or reporting that you carried out under that PIF number. You must submit a

new PIF for any additional fieldwork and you must document this new fieldwork in a new report.

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5.8 What to do if the fieldwork activities you plan are different from those you recommended in the preceding report

The information in this section applies mainly to PIFs for archaeological assessment projects

that consultant archaeologists may submit to the ministry.

When undertaking later stages of fieldwork, follow the fieldwork recommendations you set out

in your reports on earlier stages of work.

If you want to make changes to the recommended fieldwork strategy that you previously

recommended, attach a document that outlines your rationale for the change and describe your

new approach when you submit your PIF. If the ministry is concerned about your new approach,

staff will contact you to discuss the matter.

For example, if you plan to undertake a Stage 3 assessment for a project that a different licensee

began, the ministry expects you to review and follow the recommendations that the other

licensee made in the earlier Stage 1 and 2 reports. (This is does not apply in cases where the

recommendations do not meet the Standards and Guidelines).

If you fail to notify the ministry of any discrepancies and carry out fieldwork that is different

from previous recommendations, you risk not meeting the ministry’s requirements for fieldwork

and reporting under the terms and conditions of your licence.

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6 How the ministry processes PIFs

When you file a PIF through PastPort, you will receive an automatic email notification to let you

know that the ministry has received it. Within 5 business days of PIF submission, you will

receive a second email that will:

provide you with the PIF number that the ministry has assigned to the project and the

deadline by which you must file the report(se Section 6.1);

inform you that the PIF is being processed; or

inform you that the ministry can’t process the PIF and explain why..

Reasons PIFs may not be processed include:

the PIF contains inaccurate information;

the licensee submitting the PIF is not eligible to undertake new fieldwork projects or new

stages of archaeological assessment because they have failed to meet the terms and

conditions of their licence (see Section 3).

6.1 Report filing deadlines

At the same time that the ministry assigns a PIF number to your fieldwork project or stage of

archaeological assessment, it also sets a deadline by which you must file a report on the

fieldwork with the ministry. The ministry emails you this report filing deadline when it emails

you your PIF number.

You must complete all fieldwork for the project that the PIF describes and you must file a report

with the ministry before the report filing deadline.

Information for consultant archaeologists: report filing deadlines

For Stage 1, 2 and 3 archaeological assessment reports: the report filing deadline is 12 months from the project start date.

For Stage 4 mitigation reports: the report-filing deadline is 18 months from the project start date.

For non-consulting projects, the report filing deadline is 12 months from the project start date if

the project involves:

Inspecting the site condition

Pedestrian survey

Test pit survey

Controlled surface pick-up

Test unit excavation

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For non-consulting projects, the report filing deadline is 18 months from the project start date, if

the project involves:

Archaeological site excavation

Field school

Public archaeology

PastPort allows you to track and manage your report filing deadlines. For more information, see

the ministry publication: Archaeological Reports: Protocols and Support for Licensed

Archaeologists Using Ontario’s Past Portal, which includes guidance on:

how to make sure that you meet your report filing deadlines;

how to meet filing deadlines for revised reports; and,

how to ask for an extension to a report filing deadline.

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7 How to get advice from the ministry

Before and during fieldwork, analysis and report production, you may consult the ministry for

advice on whether the ministry will consider the method or approach you propose for fieldwork

will be appropriate. You must ask for advice in writing and submitted your request through

PastPort’s Inquiry feature or by email to ArchaeologyReports@Ontario.ca.

The ministry will only provide formal advice if:

you specify the project for which you are asking for advice (at an absolute minimum,

accurate location information for the project must be provided);

ministry staff will not consider hypothetical situations.

The ministry may ask for more information before providing advice, including:

status of work you have completed to date;

an up-to-date map of the most recent results of your work and a description of your

findings to date;

reasons why you are seeking advice on the archaeological fieldwork;

descriptions, photographs or images of fieldwork or fieldwork conditions;

descriptions, photographs or images of diagnostic material recovered;

indication of the preferred next steps.

In providing advice to licensees, the ministry will:

provide advice only on the information you have provided;

keep all requests for advice confidential;

email a follow-up summary of the discussion and the actions that both you and the

ministry have agreed upon.

You must consider any advice that the ministry provides to be valid only to the degree that the

information that you have provided is accurate. The ministry recognizes that when you ask for

advice, you may not have the information you will eventually discover during the fieldwork.

The ministry will strive to respond to your request for advice in a timely manner. Response time

may vary depending on the nature and complexity of the question. You may not receive an

appropriate response immediately; take this into account when planning to meet report filing

deadlines. Any advice that the ministry provides is applicable only to a specific project and not

as a precedent for other projects.

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8 Glossary

archaeological assessment For a defined project area or property, a survey that a licensed archaeologist undertakes within areas with potential to contain archaeological resources. The survey identifies archaeological sites, evaluates their cultural heritage value or interest, and determines their characteristics. Licensed archaeologists use this information to make recommendations on how to reduce the impact of the development on the archaeological resource.

archaeological assessment stages In Ontario, four stages of archaeologically examining a property: desktop research, surveying the property to look for sites, assessing a site to find out its size and other basic information, and excavating a site or setting protection measures to avoid it.

archaeological project Any aspect of the archaeological assessment (stages 1-4), including background study, property survey, archaeological site assessment, impact mitigation, and reporting.

archaeological site Ontario regulations define this in as “any property that contains an artifact or any other physical evidence of past human use or activity that is of cultural heritage value or interest”.

avocational archaeologist A person who carries out archaeological studies and fieldwork for no pay. In Ontario, this person requires an avocational licence from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport to carry out fieldwork.

consultant archaeologist Ontario regulations define this as “an archaeologist who enters into an agreement with a client to carry out or supervise archaeological fieldwork on behalf of the client, produce reports for or on behalf of the client and provide technical advice to the client”. In Ontario, these people must also hold a valid professional archaeological licence from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

guideline In the context of the Standards and Guidelines, an optional instruction or good practice. Consultant archaeologists can carry out a particular activity if they want to or if circumstances indicate the practice is an acceptable alternative to the standard practice. Generally uses the word “may”. See standard.

licensee A person holding an archaeological licence.

mitigation The act of making something less severe. In the development context, the methods that can lessen the effects of development on an archaeological site. These include excavating the site to gather and archive its information, or changing the development to avoid and protect the site.

MTCS Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport

Ontario Public Register of Archaeological Reports The collection of reports on licensed archaeological fieldwork in Ontario, as prescribed by Section 65 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

PastPort Ontario’s Past Portal. The ministry’s web-based archaeological licensing portal.

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project area The lands that the project has impact on. This could be, for example, an area where a landowner has submitted a development application under the Planning Act an area to be licensed under the Aggregate Resources Act, or an area that may physically change as a result of the activities resulting from the project. This may consist of one or several properties and these properties may or may not be beside each other. However, all the properties must be part of one project that one proponent is undertaking.

project report package The information package that a licensee must submit to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport for each archaeological project he or she undertakes. This package includes a cover letter, a report, a copy of the report and other documentation.

Project Information Form (PIF) The form that archaeological licence-holders must submit to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport upon deciding to carry out fieldwork (formerly called a CIF, or Contract Information Form.).

property In the context of the Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists (2011), a piece of land with a defined boundary and an owner. See project area.

proponent An entity, consisting of individuals, private corporations or government bodies, that is undertaking a development project.

standard In the context of the Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists (2011), a mandatory instruction or practice that the reader must carry out if they are doing a particular activity. Uses the words “must” or “should”. See guideline.