Luke McElcheran

Luke McElcheran’s thesis project was completed between September 2020 and May 2021. It consists of a survey of the literature pertinent to heritage trades work in an urban Canadian context, an analysis of municipal, provincial, and federal heritage frameworks in terms of the ways they support markets for professional services and trades work, a comparison between these frameworks and other culture sector advocacy in Toronto showing how other culture sector industries address skills shortages in specialized trades, and an accompanying design project that examines the relationship between the conventional value assessments described in the research, and the representation tools used in conservation. The project addresses the challenges and opportunities of implementing the Standards and Guidelines’ principle that “it is equally important to have well-supervised people with the right skills undertake the work as it is to determine the right work to undertake.”