Environmental Assessment and Permitting in Canada: The Basics

Introduction

A mineral discovery is a long way from a mine. In between sit engineering studies, financing and a permitting process that can take years. For many juniors, permitting is the step that sets the timeline more than any other.

Canada's system has two levels. The federal government assesses projects with potential effects in areas of federal jurisdiction. Provinces and territories run their own assessment and permitting systems. This guide explains how the pieces fit, using the federal process and British Columbia's as examples, and how to read a permitting announcement.

An assessment asks whether a project should proceed. Permits say exactly how it may operate.

Assessments and Permits Are Different

An environmental assessment (called an impact assessment at the federal level) studies a whole project: its effects on land, water, wildlife, communities and Indigenous rights, and how those effects could be reduced. It ends in a decision on whether the project can proceed, usually with conditions attached.

Permits come afterward. They authorize specific activities: building and operating the mine, discharging water, building a tailings facility, clearing land. A large mine may need many permits from several agencies.

In BC the sequence is explicit. The Environmental Assessment Office says an environmental assessment certificate is a prerequisite for authorizations or approvals under other provincial or federal statutes.

The Federal Impact Assessment

The Impact Assessment Act, administered by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, applies to designated projects that are the most likely to have significant adverse effects in areas of federal jurisdiction. The Agency describes five phases:

1. Planning. The proponent submits an initial project description, the public comments, and the Agency decides whether an assessment is required. If it is, the Agency issues tailored guidelines.
2. Impact statement. The proponent studies the effects, engages the public and Indigenous peoples, and submits an impact statement.
3. Impact assessment. The Agency prepares a report and proposed conditions for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
4. Decision. The Minister, or the federal Cabinet if the Minister refers it, decides whether adverse effects are likely to be significant and, if so, whether they are justified in the public interest. The result is a decision statement.
5. Post-decision. The Agency checks compliance with conditions.

The Act has been amended. In October 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada gave an advisory opinion finding parts of it unconstitutional, and amendments that narrowed the federal role came into force in June 2024. The federal process has continued to change since, so check the Agency's current guidance. The Agency says it aims to complete assessments in about two years, within legislated timelines, and works with provinces, territories and Indigenous governments toward "one project, one review".

A Provincial Example: British Columbia

Each province and territory has its own system. In BC, the Environmental Assessment Office runs reviews under the Environmental Assessment Act (2018). Its user guide sets out the phases:

1. Early engagement. The proponent files an initial project description and engagement plan.
2. Readiness decision. Whether the project proceeds to an assessment, is exempted or is terminated.
3. Process planning. The scope and steps of the assessment are set.
4. Application development and review.
5. Effects assessment and recommendation.
6. Decision. Two ministers decide whether to issue or refuse an environmental assessment certificate.

A certificate is legally binding and sets out how the project must be carried out. The certificate sets a deadline, no more than ten years out, to substantially start the project, with a possible one-time extension of up to five years. BC's process also gives participating Indigenous nations a formal role, and ministers are legally required to consider their consent or lack of consent.

The Permits That Follow

After an assessment, the operating permits set the detailed rules. Two examples show the kind of approvals involved:

• Provincial mine permits. In BC, mines need a permit under the Mines Act. Reclamation security may be a condition of that permit, held by the province to cover the cost of reclamation if a company defaults.
• Federal fisheries rules. Environment and Climate Change Canada administers the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations under the Fisheries Act. Using water frequented by fish to store mine waste may require a regulatory amendment adding that water body to Schedule 2 of the regulations.

Exploration has its own permits. In BC, for example, most mechanized ground-disturbing exploration, including drilling and trenching, needs a Mines Act permit through a Notice of Work application. That is a much smaller process than an environmental assessment.

Reading Permitting News

Junior mining releases use permitting words loosely. A few questions make them clearer:

• Which step is this? Filing a project description, being told an assessment is required, receiving a certificate and receiving an operating permit are very different milestones.
• Which government? A provincial certificate does not settle a federal process, or the reverse, unless the release explains how the two were coordinated.
• Is it an exploration or a mine permit? A drill permit is useful but small compared with mine approvals.
• What conditions apply? Certificates and permits come with conditions that can affect cost and design.
• What remains? A good release, or the MD&A, lists the approvals still needed before construction.

The news release reader can help you work through an announcement line by line.

What to Check

• The jurisdiction. Provincial and territorial systems differ in steps and timing.
• Federal involvement. Whether the project is a designated project under the Impact Assessment Act.
• Indigenous participation. How consultation and agreements are progressing, which often affects timing.
• The permit list. The technical report's environmental and permitting section, which Form 43-101F1 requires.
• Closure obligations. Reclamation security and closure costs, which affect financing.
• Timelines in the company's own words. Treat any target date as an estimate that depends on decisions outside the company's control.

Read the filings on SEDAR+ and the public registry for the assessment, and speak to your own adviser before making an investment decision.