Expert Panel Recommends New Model For Environmental Assessment In Canada

On April 5, the federal government's appointed Expert Panel released " Building Common Ground: A New Vision for Impact Assessment in Canada," a detailed report (Report), which recommends key changes to current federal environmental assessment processes. The government has invited public comment on the Report until May 5, 2017 through the website www.letstalkea.ca, after which it will seek input from stakeholders and Indigenous groups to inform its potential development of legislative, regulatory or policy changes.

What You Need To Know

• The Report recommends a broader "impact assessment" (IA) framework with sustainability as the core focus. IA would assess all impacts likely to result from a project, both positive and negative, and a project would only be approved where it is determined to "contribute a net benefit to environmental, social, economic, health and cultural well-being."