Federal assessment and review process of projects on Cree territory (Section 22)

A project under federal jurisdiction:

• is automatically subject to a federal assessment and review process if it is mentioned in Annex 1 of Section 22 (Future developments automatically subject to assessment) of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA).
• is not subject to a federal assessment and review process if it is mentioned in Annex 2 of Section 22 (Future development exempt from the requirement for impact assessment) of the JBNQA.
• must go through a federal assessment if it is not mentioned in Annexes 1 or 2 of Section 22 of the JBNQA (we call these “grey-zone projects”).

For projects mentioned in Annex 1 of Section 22 and for grey-zone projects, the proponent must submit information on the project to the Federal Administrator, as specified in the Guide for proponents (Section 22).

Whether the project goes through a federal assessment and review process or not, the proponent is responsible for getting any other permits or authorizations required at the municipal, regional, provincial and federal levels to carry out its project.