Guidance for Evaluating Human Health Effects in Impact Assessment: Drinking and Recreational Water Quality

Organization: Health Canada

Date published: December 2023

This document provides generic guidance on assessing potential human health risks of water quality in federal impact assessments (IAs) of proposed major resource and infrastructure projects in Canada (such as mines, dams, pipelines and other projects). It presents the principles, current practices and basic information Health Canada looks for when it reviews the impact statement or other documentation submitted by project proponents as part of the IA process.

The guidance is presented to support an efficient and transparent project review process. The foundational information described here should be supplemented appropriately with additional information relevant to proposed projects.

The guidance was prepared for the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (the Agency) and stakeholders involved in the IA process to communicate Health Canada's standard areas of engagement and priorities to help ensure that sufficient evidence is available to support sound decisions.

As part of its review, Health Canada may suggest that the Agency, review panels or others collect information not specifically described in this document to assess the health effects of proposed projects. As the guidance provided is generic and designed to support the IA process, the scope of Health Canada's review may also be amended to reflect project-specific circumstances.

This document concerns the assessment of human health risks associated with water quality. It contains information on Health Canada's role with respect to drinking and recreational water quality; steps in Health Canada's preferred approach to human health risk assessment and assessing water quality-related health effects; and assessing cumulative effects.

Appendix A provides a checklist for verifying that the key elements of a water quality assessment have been completed and where this information appears in the assessment document.