Program directory · Environment and Climate Change Canada
Environmental Assessment
- Department
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Program code
- BGT05 (EC)
- Core responsibility
- Conserving Nature
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2025-26 · Appeared and later dropped
What it does
The Environmental Assessment program consists of a consolidated range of activities that support the assessment, evaluation and management of Canada’s ecosystems with the goal of reducing the environmental impact of development projects subject to environmental/impact assessments. Contributions include direct participation in federal environmental/impact assessments; the provision of scientific expertise, guidance and advice to decision makers within and outside the federal government; leading the implementation of the Government of Canada’s approach to cumulative effects, including support for the strategic assessment of climate change, regional assessment prioritization, and support for the development of the open data and science platform. The Program aims to ensure that ecosystem information and environmental effects of development proposals can be factored into development project planning, federal environmental/impact assessment decisions -making, sustainability policies and strategies. The Program actively collaborates with government departments and agencies; Review Panels; Indigenous Peoples; industry and others. This active collaboration supports the identification and consideration of environmental impacts of development projects prior to their approval, measures to prevent or otherwise manage adverse impacts, and action to build more resilient communities, economies and ecosystems.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental Assessment | This program | 2018-19 – 2027-28 | $134M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
No significant changes detected.
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 75% – 100% | 2019 | — Staff efforts were redirected to support work on the implementation of the Impact Assessment Act- Trans Mountain Expansion Project. This limited the program's capacity to establish target and baseline information. Results expected in March 2020. | No result reported |
| 2019-20 | 75% – 100% | 2020 | 98% Out of a 137 measures recommended by ECCC for inclusion in a decision statement, 134 were addressed in accordance with ECCC advice. | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 100% | 2021 | 92% The Impact Assessment Agency found some follow-up phase recommendations to be too specific for the purposes of the Decision Statement (DS). However, the recommendations are expected to be reflected in the follow-up programs, as required under Conditions of the DS. | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 100% | 2022 | 75% Bodies responsible for the assessment decision (i.e., The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, Northern Boards, Provincial Assessment Agencies etc.) receive science knowledge and technical advice from a variety of sources. Environmental/Impact Assessment decision makers must weigh ECCC’s input against that received from other sources which is why the target of 100% was not achieved. | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 100% | 2023 | 93% ECCC has seen an uptake of ECCC advice in decision statements, with a majority (93%) of recommendations provided by the Department being incorporated into project Decision Statements. However, Decision Statements must also take into consideration input from the Proponent, other stakeholders, and Indigenous groups, around the economic and technical feasibility of implementing recommended mitigatio… | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 100% | 2024 | 96% Within the context of an environmental assessment of a federally designated project, ECCC reviews the proponent’s characterization of environmental effects and proposed measures to mitigate these effects in areas within the department’s mandate, including climate change, air quality, water quality, biodiversity, environmental preparedness and emergencies. Based on these reviews, ECCC provides exp… | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 90% | 2025 | 93% | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 75% – 100% | 2019 | — Staff efforts were redirected to support work on the implementation of the Impact Assessment Act- Trans Mountain Expansion Project. This limited the program's capacity to establish target and baseline information. Results expected in March 2020. | No result reported |
| 2019-20 | 75% – 100% | 2020 | 88% Out of 199 environmental effects identified, 176 were addressed in accordance with ECCC advice in Impact Assessment reports (or 22 projects). Of these 199, 23 possible effects were not addressed by a Responsible Authority (i.e. Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, Canadian Energy Regulator, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, etc.). | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 100% | 2021 | 88% The target was not met primarily due to two projects that had specific conditions, which led to technical circumstances and exclusions where the proposed mitigation measures were not taken up or adopted. Mitigation measures were still provided to the Impact Assessment Agency; however, they were provided for consideration with the goal of moving the project towards more ambitious measures to reduc… | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 100% | 2022 | 81% Bodies responsible for the assessment decision receive science knowledge and technical advice from a variety of sources. Assessment decision makers and/or Proponent must weight ECCC’s input against that received from other sources which is why the target of 100% was not achieved. | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 100% | 2023 | 93% Bodies responsible for the assessment decision (i.e., The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, Northern Boards, Provincial Assessment Agencies etc.) receive science knowledge and technical advice from a variety of sources. Environmental/Impact Assessment decision makers must weigh ECCC’s input against that received from other sources which is why the target of 100% was not achieved. In general, EC… | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 90% | 2024 | 73% Within the context of an environmental assessment of a federally designated project, ECCC reviews the proponent’s characterization of environmental effects and proposed measures to mitigate these effects in areas within the department’s mandate, including climate change, air quality, water quality, biodiversity, environmental preparedness and emergencies. Based on these reviews, ECCC provides exp… | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 90% | 2025 | 91% | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
No indicators in the 2026-27 plan.
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $13.1M | $15.1M |
| 2019-20 | $20.3M | $15.4M |
| 2020-21 | $22.1M | $16.1M |
| 2021-22 | $24.2M | $19M |
| 2022-23 | $23.1M | $19.9M |
| 2023-24 | $27.2M | $24.6M |
| 2024-25 | $26.1M | $23.5M |
| 2025-26 | $25M | — |
| 2026-27 | $26.3M* | — |
| 2027-28 | $26.5M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 122 | 130 |
| 2019-20 | 166 | 122 |
| 2020-21 | 184 | 125 |
| 2021-22 | 120 | 148 |
| 2022-23 | 145 | 154 |
| 2023-24 | 163 | 155 |
| 2024-25 | 142 | 162 |
| 2025-26 | 146 | — |
| 2026-27 | 155* | — |
| 2027-28 | 155* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $13,077,143 | $13,049,151 | $11,960,556 | |||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $20,321,293 | $21,017,391 | $20,771,120 | |||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $22,063,404 | $21,961,006 | $22,035,005 | |||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $24,240,687 | $24,309,036 | $13,162,322 | |||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $23,084,578 | $11,926,281 | $11,301,570 | |||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $27,242,096 | $29,182,983 | $26,559,921 | |||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $26,082,163 | $23,482,794 | $24,498,470 | |||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $24,991,957 | $26,348,858 | $26,465,994 | |||||||
| Actual | $15,079,422 | $15,402,240 | $16,121,207 | $18,953,054 | $19,887,256 | $24,641,877 | $23,527,805 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
