The Ontario Heritage Act R.S.O. 1990, c. O.18, (‘OHA’) permits municipalities to establish a register that identifies properties that have or may have cultural heritage value or interest. Properties which have been evaluated and deemed to have cultural heritage value or interest, as defined in O. 9/06 Reg Criteria for Determining Cultural Heritage Value or Interest (‘O. Reg 09/6’), and a municipal by-law has been passed to recognize same as per the OHA, are referred to as Designated heritage properties. Properties which have potential cultural heritage value or interest, but to be evaluated against O. Reg 9/06, can be added to a municipal heritage register; these properties are referred to as non-designated or listed properties. 

Bill 23, known as More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, amended the OHA to require that non-designated  properties listed on a municipal heritage register as of January 1, 2023 are to be removed from same if not proceeding through a formal evaluation process as of January 1, 2025. Most recently, Bill 200, being the Homeowner Protection Act, 2024, extended the deadline for evaluating listed heritage properties to January 1, 2027. Town Council, upon consultation with its heritage committee, has directed staff to initiate the evaluation process of the non-designated properties on the municipal heritage register to determine which properties can and should be evaluated or removed from the register, as required by the OHA.

There are a total of 63 non-designated properties listed on The Town of Midland (‘Town’) municipal heritage register. Due to their number, the evaluation of these listed properties is being completed in phases. This RFP is Phase 1. Listed properties to be evaluated as part of Phase 1 are identified in an attachment on the Bids & Tenders Platform. Phase 1 properties are priority properties and were identified as such by the Town’s heritage committee in consultation with staff. The successfully bidder is expected to evaluate all Phase 1 listed properties against the criteria outlined in O. Reg. 9/06 to determine which properties, if any, are candidates for designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the OHA. It is expected that the successfully bidder will conduct, at minimum, 10 evaluations.