2023-2024 Departmental Plan: Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

Raison d’être

The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (the Agency) delivers high-quality environmental and impact assessments to inform decision-making on major projects in support of sustainable development. Impact and environmental assessments are planning and decision-making tools that:

• assist with project design;
• facilitate Indigenous, public, and stakeholder participation; and
• ensure appropriate measures are identified and implemented to mitigate the adverse effects of designated projects.

Mandate and role

The Impact Assessment Act (IAA), which came into force on August 28, 2019, expanded the Agency’s mandate and responsibilities as the lead federal organization responsible for conducting and administering assessments. Under the IAA, the Agency is responsible for assessing the positive and negative environmental, economic, social, and health effects of designated projects. It is also the Crown Consultation Coordinator for Indigenous consultation on designated projects under the IAA.

The IAA replaces the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (CEAA 2012) and includes transitional provisions for environmental assessments that began under the previous legislation. The Agency is responsible for ensuring that these transitional assessments complete requirements as soon as practicable in accordance with CEAA 2012 provisions. Environmental assessments under CEAA 2012 consider whether designated projects are likely to cause significant adverse effects that fall within the legislative authority of Parliament.

Impact assessments under the IAA consider whether designated projects that fall within the legislative authority of Parliament are in the public interest. Decision-making must take into account several factors, including the positive and negative effects of a project’s activities, and five public interest factors listed in the Act, which are:

• the extent to which the project contributes to or hinders the Government of Canada’s ability to meet its environmental obligations and its commitments related to climate change;
• the extent to which the project contributes to sustainability;
• the implementation of mitigation measures that the decision-maker considers appropriate;
• the impacts on the Indigenous Peoples of Canada; and
• the extent to which the adverse effects of a project are significant.

Once a decision is taken, the Agency is responsible for verifying a project proponent’s compliance with the conditions in the decision statements. The Agency is also responsible for tracking and reporting on follow-up programs and adaptive management plans to verify the accuracy of predictions and determine the effectiveness of mitigation measures.

The Agency coordinates Crown Consultation activities throughout the impact assessment process, by leading Government of Canada consultations with Indigenous Peoples to meet statutory requirements of the IAA and the Crown’s legal duty to consult and accommodate. In doing so, the IAA mandates that the Agency support the Government’s commitments to uphold the rights of the Indigenous Peoples and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

Under the IAA, potential impacts on Indigenous Peoples and their rights must be considered in the impact assessment of a designated project. The IAA also requires consideration of the potential impacts on the rights of Indigenous Peoples at key decision points in the impact assessment process, including decisions about whether:

• an impact assessment is required;
• referral to a review panel is warranted; and
• the effects of a project within federal jurisdiction are in the public interest.

The IAA also requires the Agency to consider any Indigenous Knowledge provided and demonstrate how it was taken into account throughout the assessment process.

Both environmental and impact assessments inform government decision-making and support sustainable development. They do so by identifying opportunities to eliminate, reduce, or manage a project’s potential adverse effects and enhancing its potential benefits before a project is undertaken.

The Minister of Environment and Climate Change may refer the impact assessment of a designated project to an independent review panel if the Minister determines that it is in the public interest to do so. If a designated project includes physical activities regulated under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act or the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, the Minister is required to refer the impact assessment to an integrated review panel. The Agency supports the work of independent and integrated review panels by providing technical, procedural, and administrative support through a secretariat.

When a project is subject to an assessment by more than one order of government, the Agency coordinates with the provinces and territories to identify the most efficient and effective means of achieving the “one project, one assessment” objective. The Minister may approve the substitution of a federal assessment with the process of another jurisdiction, upon the jurisdiction’s request if the Minister believes it would be an appropriate substitute.

The Agency engages with international partners to promote IAA principles and works closely with Global Affairs Canada and other federal departments on activities related to impact assessment in multilateral agreements. It also has a direct role in Canada’s responsibilities in impact assessment in a transboundary context and supports the Agency’s President, who is Canada’s point of contact under the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context.

Regional and strategic assessments are two additional types of assessments conducted under the IAA. These assessments support the Government of Canada’s strategy for addressing cumulative effects and build on the previous CEAA 2012 provision, which allowed the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to appoint a committee to conduct a regional study.

Regional assessments examine the effects of current and anticipated physical activities in a specific region. This enables the Government of Canada to go beyond the scale of project-specific impact assessments to understand the regional context and identify development pressures and their effects in areas of existing projects or anticipated projects. The impacts considered in these assessments can include environmental, health, social, and economic effects, including cumulative effects.

Strategic assessments examine the impact of existing or proposed federal policies, plans, or programs that may cause or contribute to issues arising in the impact assessment of projects, as well as broader policy issues relevant to conducting impact assessment.

The IAA recognizes the importance of meaningful public participation and requires that opportunities for public participation be provided throughout the assessment process, as set out in the Agency’s legislation, regulations, policies, and guidance. The Agency engages on specific issues and assessments, and implements the National Engagement and Outreach Strategy to listen to, and learn from, Canadians and Indigenous Peoples, and adjusts and improves the Agency’s processes, policies, and programs accordingly.

The Agency is also responsible for leading federal project review activities under the environmental and social protection regimes, as set out in sections 22 and 23 of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement and the Northeastern Quebec Agreement. Because they are comprehensive, constitutionally protected land claim agreements, the Agency supports its President, who, as the Federal Administrator, must review and determine whether projects of a federal nature proposed under such agreements should proceed and, if so, under which conditions.