Canada’s impact assessment system

Assessments that work. Timely. Efficient. For what matters.

What is the impact assessment process?

Why was it created? Why do we need assessments? How does it work? Get answers to these burning questions and more!

Why this toolkit?

Discover Canada's improved federal impact assessment system and its benefits. Learn what's changed for the better and why.

What do I need to know?

Canada is open to development that is smart and sustainable, and we're ready to assess those projects

Transcript: How Canada's impact assessment system benefits everyone

Hi, I'm Terry Hubbard, President of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.

Here at the agency, we work hand in hand with industry leaders, environmental experts, Indigenous communities and the Canadian public to better understand and mitigate the impacts of major projects on people, places and our environment. We're talking about major projects like hydroelectric dams, marine terminals, and large-scale mines.

Canada needs these types of projects to create good jobs, but we also need to build them right. Helping to do that is why we're here.

We're also committed to completing federal impact assessments in a timelier manner. That means achieving the target. The government has set to complete federal assessments in five years or less, including any required permitting. For nuclear projects, it's three years. We will achieve this not by cutting corners, but by finding efficiencies like pursuing cooperation agreements with provinces to ensure our project is assessed thoroughly and robustly, but only once.

This site is designed to set the record straight on how federal impact assessments work and how they benefit you. As we move forward with more timely, efficient assessments, we remain committed to delivering what matters to Canadians, getting good projects built, protecting the environment, and ensuring the rights of Indigenous peoples are respected and upheld. I invite you to explore the site and discover for yourself how Canada's impact assessment system benefits everyone.

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