GIFL Project: Archaeological Assessments

WSP has completed two archaeological reports to date: The Stage 1 Terrestrial Archaeological Assessment and the Marine Desktop Archaeological Assessment. These reports provide the community with background information about the geography, history, previous archaeological investigations, and current conditions within the terrestrial and marine environments of the Georgina Island Fixed Link Project (the Project) study area.

The assessments, which were supplemented with site visits to inspect the study area visually, evaluated the archaeological potential within the terrestrial and marine environments and provided recommendations for further archaeological assessment (i.e., Stage 2 Archaeological Assessment).

The Stage 1 Archaeological Assessment determined that the terrestrial portion of the study area contains areas of archaeological potential and that these areas should be subject to Stage 2 Archaeological Assessment (i.e., field surveys) before any construction occurs.  The community is committed to undertaking that work as part of the project course during the project's design phase. There were spaces in the terrestrial study area that were determined not to have archaeological potential and were not recommended for further archaeological assessment. 

The Marine Desktop Archaeological Assessment determined that the marine portion of the study area contains areas of archaeological potential and that these areas should be subject to Stage 2 Archaeological Assessment (i.e., field surveys) before construction. Areas of the marine study area determined not to have archaeological potential were not recommended for further archaeological assessment.  

The recommended Stage 2 Archaeological Assessments for the Study area will focus on anticipated areas of impact associated with the Project. These assessments aim to identify archaeological resources that may be present and provide further recommendations to mitigate impacts. This process will involve close consultation with Georgina IslandFirst Nation and other Indigenous communities engaged for the Project. 

The First Nation is planning engagements with our Williams Treaties allies to consider the potential and placement of expected archaeological findings.