Item - 2019.PB7.9

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends to the Planning and Housing Committee that:  

1. City Council approve the phased implementation of the Toronto Heritage Survey as outlined in this report, and as summarized in Attachment 2 and Attachment 3.

2. City Council request the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to report back through the City’s 2020 Budget process, on a funding approach that will be required to support the first phase of the Toronto Heritage Survey.

3. City Council request the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to report back to City Council in 2021 following the completion of the first phase of the Toronto Heritage Survey work plan, and to make recommendations on future phases of work.

4. City Council request the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to develop a comprehensive public engagement program including potential partnerships, and a communications strategy, to support the Toronto Heritage Survey.

5. City Council request the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to work with the City's four Community Preservation Panels and Heritage Toronto to develop a volunteer program that will support the Toronto Heritage Survey, including the development of a fundraising strategy for community-based initiatives.

6. City Council request the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to prioritize outstanding nominations for the inclusion of properties on the Heritage Register in the first phase of the Toronto Heritage Survey.

7. City Council request the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to collaborate with Architectural Conservancy Ontario Toronto Branch (ACO Toronto), to explore opportunities for information gathering and sharing through extensive online property database, TOBuilt.

Gary Miedema, Project Manager, SIPA, Urban Design, City Planning,  gave a presentation on City-Wide Heritage Survey Feasibility Study.

This report responds to City Council's request in 2017 for a City-wide Heritage Survey Feasibility Study that would scope and describe the initiative, identify required operating costs and propose necessary resources. It provides the results of the Feasibility Study, makes recommendations for a transformative approach to the identification of heritage resources in the city, and seeks support for the launch of a city-wide heritage survey program to be delivered through a multi-year work plan.

This report recommends the initiation of a city-wide heritage survey program - an emerging international best practice - as a building block for good planning. In a development context where increasing demands for heritage evaluation and protection challenge the City's ability to respond quickly and effectively, a standardized and systematic "Toronto Heritage Survey" will result in operational efficiencies, enhance civic leadership and responsiveness to provincial land-use planning and cultural heritage policies, and improve predictability for City staff, property owners and the public. It will support timely and transparent decision-making while engaging Torontonians in the pro-active identification of cultural heritage resources that residents, neighbourhoods and communities value. A Toronto Heritage Survey will also contribute significantly to city-building through the collection and dissemination of comprehensive data about the heritage resources of the city. Importantly, the survey program will engage Indigenous communities and carefully consider Indigenous histories in fulfillment of the City's Statement of Commitment to the Aboriginal Communities of Toronto. Diversity and social equity will be fundamental principles as the survey moves forward.

A city-wide heritage survey is an ambitious, multi-year program that will modernize the day to day work of City Planning. This report proposes a phased survey program that, if sufficiently resourced, can efficiently and effectively identify heritage resources throughout the City while providing timely research and base-line data for heritage conservation districts and other area planning studies. A major outcome of the survey will be greater clarity for City Planning, communities and property owners about the location and value of heritage resources.

A city-wide heritage survey also has the potential to engage stakeholders, communities and volunteers through their contribution to the survey's understanding of local heritage, which in turn builds stronger communities. Survey data, gathered and made open and accessible through the digital exchange of information, can be used by public and private sectors for a variety of purposes, including informing public policy and decision-making and strengthening a culture of conservation. The Toronto Heritage Survey has the potential to engage Torontonians in ways that could dramatically enrich an understanding of pre- and post-European settlement Toronto. It will also benefit the work of city-builders through pro-active identification. Finally, the survey has the potential to weave together into a coherent whole, the histories and geographies of the amalgamated City.

This report provides the results of the City-wide Heritage Survey Feasibility Study conducted by City Planning in 2018-2019, including information on the following areas of interest as identified by Council:

- Sector Scan Analysis
- Proposed Survey Methodology
- Data Management
- Methodology to Prioritize Survey Areas
- Community Engagement
- Role of Volunteers
- Phased Approach to Timing and Costing