Making the Mid-term Grade: A Report Card on Canada’s New Impact Assessment Act
Authors: West Coast Environmental Law Association, Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement (CQDE), Ecojustice, Environmental Defence, MiningWatch Canada, Nature Canada, WCS Canada and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative
On February 8, 2018, the federal government tabled Bill C-69, which introduces a proposed new Impact Assessment Act (IAA) to replace the current Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (CEAA 2012).
How does the proposed new IAA measure up? This report card, co-authored by a coalition of Canadian environmental groups, grades the Act against the “essential elements of next generation EA” described in our Guide for Reviewing the Environmental Assessment Bill. The essential elements of next-generation EA are based on the leading-edge thinking of experts across the country, the collective recommendations of the authors, and the conclusions of the expert panel appointed to review Canada’s EA processes.