Environmental Site Assessments (ESA) in Ontario

Phase 1 & 2 Environmental Site Assessments, Phase 3 Remediation and associated services. Thorough site history research, documentation and risk mitigation strategies tailored to your project.

Phase 1

Identifying potential environmental concerns through historical records reviews

Phase-2

Sampling and testing soil, groundwater

Record of Site

Professional RSC services to document environmental site

Phase 3 Remediation

Developing and implementing remediation strategies

Building Condition Assessments

Comprehensive evaluations of building structures and systems

Liveable Environments

Air Quality Hazardous Materials Designated Substances

How environmental site assessments work in Ontario

An environmental site assessment answers one question: is there contamination on this property, and if there is, what has to happen before the purchase, the loan or the development can go ahead. Most files follow the same path, and most of them stop at the first step.

Phase One ESA. A review of the property’s history through records, aerial photographs, title documents, a site visit and interviews. The goal is to find areas of potential environmental concern, such as an old fuel tank, a dry cleaner or fill of unknown origin. Nothing is sampled at this stage.
Phase Two ESA. If the Phase One finds concerns, we drill boreholes, install monitoring wells where needed, and sample soil and groundwater. The samples are analyzed at our own laboratory in Markham and compared with the Ministry’s site condition standards for the property’s use.
Remediation or risk assessment. If results exceed the standards, the impacted soil or groundwater is cleaned up, or a site-specific risk assessment sets out how the risk will be managed instead.
Record of Site Condition. When a property is changing to a more sensitive use, such as industrial to residential, a Qualified Person files an RSC on Ontario’s Environmental Site Registry before the municipality will issue permits.

Who asks for an ESA

Lenders are the most common reason. Banks financing commercial or industrial property usually want a Phase One before they commit, and they will specify the standard. Buyers order one during the conditional period so a contamination problem shows up before closing, not after. Municipalities can require one with a planning or permit application, and developers need the full path to an RSC when they convert a site to residential use.

Sellers sometimes get ahead of it too. A recent, clean Phase One can take a condition off the table and shorten a negotiation.

Pick the right standard before you start

In Ontario a Phase One is done either to CSA Z768-01, the due diligence standard lenders and buyers use, or to O. Reg. 153/04, the standard required for a Record of Site Condition. A CSA report cannot be upgraded later. If there is any chance the property will change use, doing the Phase One to the RSC standard from the start costs less than paying for two. Our RSC page has a side-by-side comparison.

RSC-standard work has to be completed or supervised by a Qualified Person, which under O. Reg. 153/04 means a licensed Professional Engineer or Professional Geoscientist with the required experience.

Tell us the property address, what it is used for now, and why you need the assessment. Call 905-475-7755 or send us a message and we will tell you which assessment you actually need.

Environmental Site Assessment FAQ

When is an environmental site assessment required?

The usual triggers are a lender financing a commercial property, a purchase, a municipal planning application, or a change to a more sensitive use like industrial to residential. That last one requires a Record of Site Condition under O. Reg. 153/04.