Announcing New Impact Assessment Guide & Toolkit for Indigenous Communities
In 2019, Canada’s Impact Assessment process received a major overhaul. The new Impact Assessment Act (IAA), passed as Bill C-69, replaced the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012. Despite the 2023 Supreme Court of Canada ruling and resulting 2024 amendments, the IAA remains the primary federal law mandating environmental, social and health impact assessments for designated major projects. And despite Canada’s recent Building Canada Act and the creation of a Major Projects Office, much of the IAA remains in place, and the guidance and advice found in our toolkit remain highly relevant, with sections such as that on “Pre-Planning” of even greater importance.
For Indigenous communities, the IAA presents three important changes:
1. Indigenous Rights
All major projects must now assess impacts to the rights of Indigenous peoples and their territories which changes the way Indigenous communities, proponents, and Regulators will assess project impacts.
2. Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+)
GBA+ is now a mandatory analytical process for designated projects, meaning potential project effects must now consider intersecting identity factors like age, sex, gender, income and ethnicity.
3. Sustainability
IAs must now examine the contribution of the project to sustainability and makes the contribution to sustainability one of the factors that determine whether a project will be approved.
To aide Indigenous communities in conducting Impact Assessments under the new IAA, Willow Springs Strategic Solutions partnered with McMurray Métis Local 1935 and representatives from Suncor and Imperial to produce an accessible guide for conducting socioeconomic Impact Assessments (SEIA) with Indigenous communities. The resulting Impact Assessment Guide & Toolkit for Indigenous Communities is the outcome of community-driven and multi-stakeholder workshops, in-depth engagement sessions, knowledge sharing, trust-building, and collaboration.
Who can use this document?
In short, everyone involved in a federal impact assessment! This toolkit is designed to guide Indigenous communities through the IAAC process, providing tips and tools for all phases of the process. It is also designed to help proponents understand the perspectives and needs of Indigenous communities participating in the IAAC process, highlighting places and ways in which to support and work with communities to build stronger relationships.
Finally, the document provides information and suggestions for how IAAC/The Agency can better support both Indigenous communities and proponents in discharging their duty to consult. The result: a more collaborative process, better impact assessments, and building better projects.
The Highlights
Designed with images, graphics, and colours to improve ease of use, accessibility, and readability. It can be easily picked up and put down depending on where you are in the process.
Explains important concepts and terms like Socio-Economic Impacts, Cumulative Effects, GBA+, Indigenous rights, Impact Benefit Agreements, indicators and more.
Provides an easy roadmap to the 5 Phases of the IAAC process with important timelines, benchmarks, and tips for each phase.
Includes information on some of the key challenges of Impact Assessments.
Provides a Pre-Planning Checklist of what communities, proponents and IAAC/The Agency should know and do before the process begins.
A “Plain Language Dictionary” to make technical jargon easier to understand.
Tips and guidance on where to begin, gathering necessary information, navigating capacity and financial challenges, communication strategies, negotiating agreements and more.
Willow Springs Strategic Solutions is proud to have supported and contributed to this important work, and we extend our congratulations to everyone who played a role in bringing it to life. By helping bridge gaps and foster collaboration among Indigenous communities, industry, proponents, and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, this resource strengthens understanding of the assessment process and empowers communities to more effectively safeguard their rights, culture, and environment.
Are you navigating a federal impact assessment, whether through IAAC or the Major Projects Office, and need support? Reach out to us to see how we can help!
Click here to download the Impact Assessment Guide & Toolkit for Indigenous Communities
