Home > Resources for Environmental Assessment Professionals > Primer for Industry > What is the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act?

What is the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act?

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (the Act) is a federal law that requires federal decision makers (i.e., “responsible authorities") to consider the environmental effects of proposed projects before taking any actions that would allow your project to go ahead. A responsible authority may not do anything to permit a project to be carried out until all significant adverse environmental effects have been addressed. This could include your project!

The Act often applies to private sector projects where there are specific federal decisions or approvals that must be made or granted. For example, most bridge construction projects require a federal permit under the Navigable Waters Protection Act and the requirement for such a permit is a “trigger” for an environmental assessment under the Act. If you are seeking federal funding to enable you to carry out your project, then you should be aware that such funding also triggers the Act.

Involvement of another jurisdiction

If your project is subject to a provincial environmental assessment or another environmental regime (e.g., territorial) and it is also subject to the Act, all legislative requirements must be met.

In most provinces cooperative agreements between the federal and provincial governments have been established so that projects subject to both pieces of legislation are assessed under one environmental assessment. Where such agreements have not yet been established, federal and provincial governments typically cooperate informally to ensure coordination of environmental assessment processes.

Following the environmental assessment decisions, you must still comply with other regulatory requirements to obtain permits or other approvals, as appropriate.

| Previous | Contents | Next |