Question Period Note: Impact Assessment Act

Impact Assessment Act

• The Impact Assessment Act ensures that sustainable projects can move forward safely, and instills public confidence in how the Government of Canada makes decisions concerning major resources projects.
• The impact assessment process involves extensive engagement and collaboration with Indigenous peoples and considers both the positive and negative environmental, economic, social, and health impacts of potential projects.
• To support Canada’s competitiveness and attract investment, the impact assessment system provides clear expectations, shorter legislated timelines, and aims to avoid duplication with other jurisdictions wherever possible with “one project, one assessment”.

• On August 28th, 2019, the Impact Assessment Act (IAA) came into force repealing the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012.
• Since then, three regulations came into force to support the implementation of the IAA: the Physical Activities Regulation, the Information and Management of Time Limits Regulations, and the Designated Classes of Projects Order (for projects on federal lands and outside Canada). The forward regulatory plan includes:
• Modernizing the Cost Recovery Regulations;
• Amending the Designated Classes of Projects Order respecting federal lands, to exempt a broader set of minor projects on federal lands and outside Canada from the requirements of the IAA; and,
• Enacting regulations to enable cooperation agreements with Indigenous governments, including transferring certain legislative functions to Indigenous governments.
• To support the implementation of the IAA, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (the Agency) consulted with experts – including the Indigenous Advisory Committee, Technical Advisory Committee on Science and Knowledge, and the Minister’s Advisory Council – on various policy issues and guidance documents aimed at providing advice on conducting assessments under the IAA.
Key elements of the IAA include:
Broader scope of assessment
• The IAA moved from environmental assessment to impact assessment based on the principle of sustainability. Impact assessments consider both positive and negative environmental, economic, social, and health impacts of potential projects. Decisions are guided by science, evidence and Indigenous knowledge.
• Since IAA coming into force, the Agency supported and funded impact assessment-related initiatives such as research on positive effects, cumulative effects, health, social (including GBA+), and economic effects, and science communication.
Early and meaningful engagement throughout an impact assessment
• The IAA requires that the public have meaningful opportunities to participate throughout the assessment process.
• The planning phase brings greater certainty and predictability to the process. Engaging during a project's planning phase allows issues to be identified and relayed to the project proponent and officials at the outset, including establishing the requirements and expectations. These requirements and expectations include clear objectives for public participation that will inform and guide a project assessment through to decision and beyond.
• During the pandemic, the Agency employed flexible methods to ensure meaningful engagement opportunities for Indigenous peoples, the public, and stakeholders. These included virtual meetings and live-streamed events and, at the request of proponents, the 180-day time limit to complete the planning phase was suspended to provide more time for engagement with Indigenous groups and other participants.
Increased participation of Indigenous Peoples
• The Agency works with Indigenous peoples in a way that advances reconciliation, respects the rights and culture of Indigenous peoples, and protects and ensures consideration of Indigenous knowledge.
• Since the coming into force of the IAA, through collaboration with Indigenous communities, the Agency ensured that a project’s potential impacts on the rights of Indigenous peoples were identified, and appropriate mitigation or other accommodation measures were proposed to address the possible impacts in advance of a decision on the project
• The Agency also advanced the Government of Canada’s commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples through the Indigenous Advisory Committee, strengthening capacity in Indigenous communities, and building collaborative relationships in the conduct of assessments. Collaboration with federal regulators and provinces
• The Agency leads all federal project reviews under the IAA, and works in cooperation with other regulatory bodies such as the Canada Energy Regulator and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to conduct integrated reviews of designated projects.
• Since the coming into force of the IAA, the Agency has worked collaboratively with other jurisdictions, Indigenous groups, and federal departments and agencies to share information and collaborate on assessments.
Expanded regional and strategic assessments
• Since the coming into force of the IAA, the Agency improved the understanding and management of cumulative effects by advancing the development of regional and strategic assessments with other jurisdictions and organizations.
• The regional assessment on the Offshore Oil and Gas Exploratory Drilling East of Newfoundland and Labrador has been completed, to improve the efficiency of the assessment processes of this project type while maintaining a high standard of environmental protection. The Regulations Respecting Excluded Physical Activities (Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Exploratory Wells), which codifies mitigation and follow-up measures that were identified through the regional assessment, came into force on June 4, 2020.
• One strategic assessment has been completed – Strategic Assessment of Climate Change (October 2020).
• The Agency is now planning two more regional assessments: the Regional Assessment of activities in the Ring of Fire Area and the Regional Assessment of activities in the St. Lawrence River Area. Both are at a different stage of their planning phase.

None