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Table 5: Sustainable Development Strategy


SDS Departmental Goal:
Federal SD Goal(s) including GGO goals, if applicable:

To promote the full and meaningful application of a results-oriented federal environmental assessment framework.

Department's Expected Results for 2007-2008 Supporting Performance Measure(s) Achieved SDS Departmental Results for 2007-2008
Governance for Sustainable Development: Federal SD Goal VI Improved understanding of how the various components of an effective and efficient environmental assessment framework should work together, and of the strengths and weaknesses of the current framework in supporting integrated decision making. Advancing the science and practice of strategic environmental assessment:
  • The Agency supported the work of the Minister's Regulatory Advisory Committee Subcommittee on SEA as it undertook its mandate to define the broader context for SEA, to explore meaningful linkages between strategic and project-level EA, and to examine the role of the public and Aboriginal groups in SEA.
  • The Agency funded a research project through the Research and Development Program, which advances the science and practice of SEA, entitled Atikamekw Nation Territorial Planning: The Role of Strategic Environmental Assessment in Sustainable and Adaptive Joint Management of Forest Area. The project is underway and the report is expected in 2009. The Agency continued to support the research project, funded in 2006, entitled Extending Models and Practice of Strategic Environmental Assessment in the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada, which is expected to be finalized in 2008.

Advancing the science and practice of regional-scale environmental assessment:

  • The Agency has been working with its partners to foster a better understanding and to help generate consensus on common principles for regional-scale environmental assessment. In March, the Agency and Fisheries and Oceans Canada jointly organized a federal workshop on regional environmental assessment (REA). The Agency also actively participated in work underway through the CCME to develop a common national understanding and conceptual framework for regional strategic environmental assessment. Efforts were also made to explore possibilities for pilot REAs offshore Nova Scotia and in the Beaufort Basin.
A timelier, coordinated, and consistent approach to the environmental assessment process of major projects is applied. Promoting and ensuring the implementation of initiatives, which improve the coordination among stakeholders in federal project environmental assessments:
  • Under Agency leadership, a Memorandum of Understanding pursuant to the 2005 Cabinet Directive on Implementing the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act was completed and ratified by five key departments.
  • The Agency continued to chair and support the work of the Environmental Assessment Project Committee (EAPC), which aims to facilitate a whole-of-government approach to the preparation of high-quality environmental assessments in a predictable, certain and timely manner.

Gaining a greater understanding of the effectiveness of the Agency and its supporting legislative and policy tools in achieving coordination among stakeholders:

  • The Agency has learned from its experiences as Federal Environmental Assessment Coordinator for a number of projects and has gathered data to track improvements in coordination.
Improved knowledge across government of how to engage the public, including Aboriginal peoples, in high-quality environmental assessments. Building knowledge and capacity internally and throughout the federal government in the area of engaging the public and Aboriginal peoples in environmental assessment:
  • The Agency developed guidance on meaningful public participation, and policy and skill-building training for engagement of Aboriginal peoples in the federal EA process. Specific examples of this include: the development of a Guide for Meaningful Public Participation in Environmental Assessments under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act; the development of a course entitled Engaging the Aboriginal Peoples in Environmental Assessment; and the delivery of a number of other training sessions and workshops for both internal and external audiences, dealing with public or Aboriginal groups' engagement in federal environmental assessment.
  • The Agency worked with other federal departments to develop the Aboriginal Consultation and Accommodation: Interim Guidelines for Federal Officials to Fulfill the Legal Duty to Consult, released in February 2008. The Agency has been a key player in the development of policy and corresponding operational guidance for the engagement of Aboriginal peoples in the EA process for projects under the Major Project Management Office initiative.
  • Through its Research and Development Program, the Agency funded two proposals aimed at providing new understanding and approaches for the meaningful involvement of Aboriginal peoples in environmental assessment. The projects, Effective Engagement of Aboriginal Peoples in Environmental Assessment: A Case Study of Treaty 8 Nations and Atikamekw Nation Territorial Planning: The Role of Strategic Environmental Assessment in Sustainable and Adaptive Joint Management of Forest Area, are underway and are expected to be finalized in 2009.
Regular and consistent training in sustainable development tools for planners and analysts across the government of Canada. Collaborating with other federal departments and agencies to increase awareness and application of the principles of sustainable development and the sustainable development tools:
  • The Agency has joined other government departments and the Canada School of Public Service to design and support the delivery of a new Government of Canada Sustainable Development course (#727). The first French and English sessions, held in February and March respectively, were very well attended.
  • The Agency is also a member of the interdepartmental Awareness, Communication and Training Working Group of the Interdepartmental Network on Sustainable Development Strategies.
Identification of areas requiring improvement in the application of the Cabinet Directive and the Act. Evaluating the effectiveness of the SEA and project EA processes:
  • The Agency, in collaboration with the Privy Council Office, is leading a government-wide evaluation of the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals. Terms of reference were finalized and a process was established to secure an independent, third-party evaluator.
  • The Agency's quality assurance unit has been working to identify and to analyze aspects of the current EA process that are most likely to lead to favourable environmental outcomes.
Identification of opportunities to integrate the project-review process across jurisdictions. Examining how the Agency can move toward better integration of project review at the national level:
  • Through the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, the Agency has worked with other jurisdictions to identify opportunities to improve the coordination of assessments for projects subject to both provincial/territorial and federal environmental assessment.
Themes of research and development reflect issues and needs addressed in the Agency's sustainable development strategies. Ensuring that the research areas promoted and encouraged by the Agency are consistent with, and supportive of, the goal and objectives set out in the Agency's sustainable development strategies:
  • The Agency has used the sustainable development strategy to guide the selection of future research priority areas for the Research and Development Program. Proposed priority areas were assessed against a number of criteria, including the degree of congruence and relevance to program objectives and the Agency's priorities, as well as their ability to contribute to the development and promotion of sound environmental assessments.