The Governments of Canada and Quebec have renewed the Canada-Quebec Agreement on Environmental Assessment Cooperation (the Agreement). A newly constituted working group will seek to optimize the use of federal-provincial cooperation mechanisms within the framework of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
The Agreement applies to projects carried out on provincial and federal lands in Quebec that are subject to review under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the Quebec Environmental Quality Act. It does not apply to projects in the territory subject to the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.
The Agreement seeks to ensure a one-project-one-assessment delivery approach to projects requiring the application of federal and provincial environmental assessment requirements. The parties agree to work within the established timelines for environmental assessments set out in federal and provincial legislation. A one-window contact in each jurisdiction is accountable for ensuring that the legal requirements of the parties participating in the cooperative environmental assessment are met. The Agreement does not delegate any federal powers to the province, or vice versa. Each government maintains authority in the areas under its jurisdiction and remains responsible for environmental assessment decisions required by its legislation.
The Agreement was first signed by Canada and Quebec in May 2004 and expired on May 19, 2009. The two parties have agreed to renew the Agreement without substantive changes following an evaluation conducted by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the Quebec Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et des Parcs. The Agreement is renewed for an indeterminate period of time and will be evaluated every three years.
Renewal of the Agreement represents continuing positive collaboration on environmental assessments between Canada and Quebec.
