Founders Ronald F. Williamson Founder G. R. Williamson Number of locations 3 | Area served Ontario, Canada Founded Toronto | |
Industry Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Consulting Key people Partners Debbie Steiss (MA), Dr. Robert MacDonald, Robert Pihl (MA) and Martin Cooper (MA) Services Archaeological and cultural heritage consulting Number of employees 52 full-time staff; 40-50 seasonal Headquarters Grovetown, Georgia, United States Profiles |
ASI (Legal: Archaeological Services Inc.) is the largest private archaeological and cultural heritage consulting company in Ontario, with offices in Toronto and Burlington. The company is a part of the Cultural Resource Management (CRM) industry.
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History
In Ontario, all land development projects, from urban condominiums and housing subdivisions, to highway expansions and infrastructure projects, require heritage assessment and mitigation of impacts before approvals are granted. Archaeological Services Inc. was established in 1980 to assist development proponents in meeting these requirements. The company was founded by Chief Archaeologist and Managing Partner, Dr. Ronald F. Williamson, with Debbie Steiss (MA), Dr. Robert MacDonald, Robert Pihl (MA) and Martin Cooper (MA) joining as partners in 2002. The company began primarily with archaeological consultations but expanded to include a Built Heritage and Cultural Heritage Landscape division in 1998. ASI's services include Environmental Assessment, Stage 1 and 2 Planning Act Assessment, Stage 3 and 4 Excavation, Geomatics, Predictive Modeling, Laboratory Services, Archaeological Management Plans and Cemeteries.
As of 2015, ASI employs approximately 50 full-time staff members and hires approximately 40-50 seasonal staff each field season. Most of the company's full-time archaeologists and many of the seasonal archaeologists are registered and licensed with the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, adhering to the ministry's licensing guidelines for consultant archaeologists.
Public Outreach
ASI is the only major Canadian archaeological consulting company to liaise on a regular basis with film and television producers, such as the History Channel, YAP Films and Ballinran Productions, for the production of popular historical documentaries, such as Death or Canada, Explosion 1812, Curse of the Axe, and Hangman's Graveyard, which feature ASI archaeological projects. ASI is also a major advocate for public outreach archaeology and works closely with Heritage Toronto, The City of Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto Museum Project and The University of Toronto to engage the public in Ontario's heritage.
Clients
ASI's clients have included the Federal Government of Canada, the Ontario Provincial Government, Regional and Municipal Governments, First Nations, Environmental and Engineering Consultants, Planning Consultants, Architectural and Legal Firms, Land Developers, Utilities and Museum and Heritage Organizations