Many Ontario municipalities contain formerly industrial and commercial land (brownfields) which is now
available of re-use as parkland, residential, green industrial and other land uses. Developing municipal
historical land use inventories for identifying potentially contaminated sites is a first step in the safe
redevelopment of this land. The Canadian Urban Institute and the Environmental Protection Office, City
of Toronto, developed a guidebook for municipalities which want to create their own inventories of
historical land use.
The guide defines a step-by-step process that begins with defining the scope of the inventory, then
provides options for inventory design and format, identifies historical and environmental sources of
information, and the need for maintenance and defining municipal liability. An example of simple
inventory that illustrates the various sources of information in provided in an appendix.
An inventory of historical land uses can be a first step to more comprehensive environmental inventories
that will provide information vital to the ecosystem approach and to planning for sustainability.
Knowledge of the past is essential to building safe and enduring communities for the future