Canadian Environmental Assessment Act

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (CEAA 2012) and its regulations establish the legislative basis for the federal practice of environmental assessment in most regions of Canada.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, S.C. 1992, c. 37 (CEAA) is an Act of Parliament that was passed by the Government of Canada in 1992. The Act requires federal departments, including Environment Canada, agencies, and Crown corporations to conduct environmental assessments for proposed projects where the federal government is the proponent or where the project involves federal funding, permits, or licensing. The purposes of the Act were set out as follows: (1) to achieve sustainable development that conserves environmental quality by integrating environmental factors into planning and decision-making process, (2) exercise leadership within Canada and internationally, and (3) to provide access to information and to facilitating public participation.

The original version of the act was repealed in 2012 and re-written by the Harper government. The new law came into effect on July 6, 2012.

There are marked differences between the new act, the Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (sc2012 c-19) and the previous act, the Environmental Assessment Act (sc 1992 c-37). The new act omits the preamble and statement of purpose. Section 4 of each act is a clause that lists purposes. The new act is more restrictive in purpose. It applies to “designated projects” instead of “projects”. Public participation is “during” an environmental assessment instead of “throughout”. The new act also adds as a purpose that assessment be completed in a timely manner. Regulations Designating Physical Activities (SOR/2012-147) describes the projects covered by the new act. The new act limits assessment just to the type of projects listed in this regulation.

The previous act applied to all projects that altered the environment. The Inclusion List Regulations (SOR/94-637) described projects for which a screening report was always required. The Inclusion List regulation was twice the size of the current list of designated physical activities. The previous Act also required a screening report for any project for which a federal department was required to issue a license or permit under the specific sections of other acts listed in the Federal Authorities Regulation (SOR/96-280). The previous act also required a modified screening report for projects where the proponent was a Crown Corporation or for projects outside of Canada or where the Government of Canada funded the project.

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