From "Guideline Order" to "Impact Assessment": The Evolution of Federal Environmental Assessment Legislation in Canada
Abstract
Federal and provincial governments across Canada have enacted comprehensive environmental assessment processes to evaluate the benefits and burdens of significant proposed infrastructure and resource activities. In recent years, federal processes have become a focal point for jurisdictional tensions, including conflicts over the regulation of major projects, natural resource development, and greenhouse gas emissions. In the wake of the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark 2023 reference opinion in Reference re Impact Assessment Act, this article follows the evolution of federal environmental impact legislation from its inception during the 1980s to the impugned legislation. Beginning with the development of the Environmental Assessment and Review Process Guidelines Order and its subsequent 1992 legal challenge at the Supreme Court in Friends of the Oldman River Society v. Canada (Minister of Transport), we provide a high-level overview of the successive legal and procedural frameworks governing environmental assessment in Canada. Special attention is given to jurisdictional issues considered in the 2023 Supreme Court reference opinion and anticipated amendments to the present iteration of the governing legislation.
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