Practitioner’s Guide to Federal Impact Assessments

This Guide includes policy frameworks and guidance, and templates organized by assessment phase and topic:

• Policy frameworks set out the intent and interpretation of key sections of the Impact Assessment Act (the Act).

• Guidance documents provide support to project proponents and impact assessment practitioners on what is required under the Act and how the practitioners’ work informs the overall impact assessment process.

• Templates set out the information or studies that the Agency considers necessary for the conduct of an impact assessment when it issues a notice of commencement.

• Planning phase
  • Guide to preparing project descriptions (Updated July 2026)
  • Guidance on submitting geospatial data (Updated February 2025)
  • Coordination of federal authorizations through the impact assessment process
  • Cooperation plan
  • Permitting plan
  • Public participation plan
  • Indigenous engagement and partnership plan
  • Tailored Information and Studies Guidance (TISG)
    • Tailored Information and Studies Guidance template (July 2026)
      • Generic requirements for Tailored Information and Studies Guidelines (July 2026)
      • Technical considerations and references for Tailored Information and Studies Guidelines (July 2026)
    • Developing Tailored Information and Studies Guidelines – Overview
  • Standard mitigation measures: Streamlining the impact assessment process (New January 2026)
• Indigenous participation and engagement
  • Guidance for proponents: Early engagement with Indigenous Peoples in impact assessments under the Impact Assessment Act (Updated August 2025)
  • Indigenous participation (policy framework)
  • Indigenous participation (guidance)
    • Collaboration with Indigenous Peoples (guidance)
• Public participation
  • Policy framework
  • Guidance
• Factors to consider in an impact assessment
  • Health, social and economic effects (guidance)
  • Policy framework for assessing cumulative effects under the Impact Assessment Act
  • Impacts on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
    • Policy framework
    • Guidance
  • Incorporating Indigenous knowledge and working with Indigenous communities (guidance)
    • Protecting confidential Indigenous knowledge (guidance)
  • Strategic assessment of climate change
• Post-decision
  • Monitoring Committees (guidance)
  • Developing, Evaluating, and Reporting on Follow-up Programs (guidance)