Practitioner’s Guide to Federal Impact Assessments

This Guide includes policy frameworks and guidance, and templates organized by assessment phase and topic:

• Policy frameworks set out the intent and interpretation of key sections of the Impact Assessment Act (the Act).

• Guidance documents provide support to project proponents and impact assessment practitioners on what is required under the Act and how the practitioners’ work informs the overall impact assessment process.

• Templates set out the information or studies that the Agency considers necessary for the conduct of an impact assessment when it issues a notice of commencement.

• Government of Canada’s statement on the interim administration of the Impact Assessment Act pending legislative amendments
• Planning phase
  • Preparing an initial project description and a detailed project description
  • Coordination of federal authorizations through the impact assessment process
  • Cooperation plan
    • Template
  • Permitting plan
    • Template
  • Public participation plan
    • Template
  • Indigenous engagement and partnership plan
  • Tailored impact statement guidelines (TISG)
    • TISG template (Updated August 2025)
      • Generic requirements for Impact Statements (Updated August 2025)
      • Technical considerations and references for the preparation of an Impact Statement (Updated August 2025)
    • Development of Tailored Impact Statement Guidelines
• Indigenous participation and engagement
  • Guidance for proponents: Early engagement with Indigenous Peoples in impact assessments under the Impact Assessment Act (Updated August 2025)
  • Indigenous participation (policy framework)
  • Indigenous participation (guidance)
    • Collaboration with Indigenous Peoples (guidance)
• Public participation
  • Policy framework
  • Guidance
• Factors to consider in an impact assessment
  • Guidance: Describing effects and characterizing extent of significance
  • Summary of Guidance: Describing effects and characterizing extent of significance
  • Health, social and economic effects (guidance)
  • Policy framework for assessing cumulative effects under the Impact Assessment Act
  • Impacts on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
    • Policy framework
    • Guidance
  • "Need for", "purpose of", "alternatives to" and "alternative means"
    • Policy framework
    • Guidance
  • Sustainability (guidance)
  • Incorporating Indigenous knowledge and working with Indigenous communities (guidance)
    • Protecting confidential Indigenous knowledge (guidance)
    • Frequently asked questions on Indigenous Knowledge in federal impact assessments
  • Environmental obligations and climate change commitments (policy framework)
    • Strategic assessment of climate change
  • Community knowledge (policy framework)
  • Gender-based analysis plus (guidance)
    • Gender-based analysis plus (tool)
• Decision
  • Public Interest Determination (policy framework)
• Post-decision
  • Monitoring Committees (guidance)