Bureau of Risk / Impact Assessment

The mandate of the Bureau of Risk/Impact Assessment is to protect the health of Canadians by assessing, and providing expert advice on, the health risks and impacts posed by development projects, federal contaminated sites, and chemicals in commerce in Canada.

Specifically, the Bureau is responsible for:

• Providing expert advice to other regulatory federal departments and within Health Canada to ensure environmental assessments of development projects adequately consider their potential impacts on the health of Canadians
   
• Assessing chemical substances in the environment to determine if they pose a risk to human health
   
• Developing soil quality guidelines, and other tools to guide the development of risk mitigation strategies for the protection of human health
   
• Conducting workshops and training in public involvement related to human health risks at contaminated sites
   
• Working internationally to share methods, assessments and information to strengthen capabilities and capacities of Canada and of other countries for chemical safety
   
• Providing leadership in Canada in human health risk and impact assessment methods
   
• Identifying and supporting research related to improving risk and impact assessments
   
• Forging partnerships with academia, industry, provinces and territories, communities, and other stakeholders to build consensus on the risks of chemicals, and the need to manage those risks