SEA Questionnaire

This HTML version of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's (ISED) SEA questionnaire is provided so that the Department can comply with website accessibility requirements. Please note that Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada only accepts completed questionnaires from officials of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and the ISED Portfolio.

Strategic Environmental Assessment Policy


Part A: SEA Preliminary Scan

A.1 Title of Proposal

A.2 Contact Information for Proposal

  • Lead: (single line text field)
  • Name and Title: (single line text field)
  • Directorate and Branch: (single line text field)
  • Telephone: (single line text field)

A.3 Type of Proposal

Check box field

  • Memorandum to Cabinet
  • Aide Memoire
  • Ministerial Recommendation
  • Treasury Board Submission
  • Treasury Board Attestation
  • Budget Proposal
  • Deck
  • RIAS Triage for a Regulatory Submission
  • Other Plan, Program, Policy, or Strategy

A.4 Is this a new Proposal or an extension, expansion or continuation of an existing policy, plan or program?

Check box field

  • New
  • Extension
  • Expansion
  • Continuation

If the initiative is an extension, expansion, or continuation of an existing policy, plan or program, an SEA may have already been completed in the past and can be referred to and updated to reflect the requirements of the 2010 Cabinet Directive and Guidelines.

A.5 At what stage is the Proposal in terms of its development cycle?

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  • Early (Cabinet date is 6 months or more away; SEA can influence Proposal design)
  • Mid-point
  • Advanced (e.g., Cabinet date is within 2 months)

It is recommended that Proposal Leads begin the SEA process early in the Proposal's development cycle to ensure early consideration of possible environmental impacts and support sustainable development decision-making.

A.6 Projected date for Proposal's submission to Minister or Cabinet for approval

Single line text field

A.7 Interdepartmental Proposal

Is this an interdepartmental Proposal?

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  • Yes
  • No

Provide details on which federal departments/agencies are participating. Indicate the lead department and ISED's Lead Minister for the Proposal.

  • Lead Department and Minister: (single line text field)
  • ISED's Lead Minister: (single line text field)

Other Participating Departments

  • Name of Department: (single line text field)
  • Contact Name: (single line text field)
  • Phone Number: (single line text field)
  • Name of Department: (single line text field)
  • Contact Name: (single line text field)
  • Phone Number: (single line text field)

Note: In cases where ISED is not the lead department on a Proposal but the Minister will be co-signing with other ministers, they are all accountable and therefore must come to a common conclusion on environmental effects. Therefore, the following steps should be followed: Obtain the completed SEA by the lead department and attach it to the completed SEA for that part of the Proposal for which ISED is responsible. Integrate, where appropriate, the result of the lead department's SEA. Follow Parts E, F and G for sign offs at ISED. Submit both SEAs to the appropriate destination depending on the type of Proposal.

A.8 A full SEA is not required in certain special cases. If your Proposal qualifies for one of the exclusions listed below, please check the appropriate box, provide a written justification and then proceed to complete Parts B, E, F and G. No responses to further questions in Part A are required.

Check box field

  • Response to a clear and immediate emergency. Ministers are responsible for determining the existence of an emergency. Please provide a brief explanation in the space provided below and indicate what follow-up action will be taken when time permits.
  • Matter of urgency; normal process of Cabinet consideration has been shortened. Please provide a brief explanation in the space provided below and indicate what follow-up action will be taken when time permits.
  • Initiative has been previously assessed for environmental impacts. For example, the initiative is a subset of a policy, plan or program that has been previously assessed. Normally, this would pertain to an initiative already assessed under a previous proposal to Cabinet, or has undergone a project environmental assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
    The important changes to SEA made in the 2010 Guidelines to the SEA Cabinet Directive mean that all previously assessed initiatives under the 1999 or 2004 SEA Cabinet Directives should be assessed again in order to reflect considerations under the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy. Please append the previous SEA to this document.
  • The Framework for Conducting Environmental Assessments of Trade Negotiations applies and the SEA will be conducted by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.

Justification for Exclusion:

Multy-line text field

A.9 A full SEA is not required if the Proposal meets ISED's low risk pre-assessment criteria for exemption. If your Proposal qualifies for an exemption under one of the low risk criteria listed below, please check the appropriate box, provide a written justification and then proceed to complete Parts B, E, F and G. No responses to further questions in Part A are required.

The Proposal is low risk and it will not result in important environmental effects because it:

Check box field

  • is a matter of routine administrative, human resource, or financial procedure; there are no important environmental implications.
  • constitutes a progress or performance report to Cabinet or Treasury Board.
  • involves program renewals, extensions or continuations where no new program elements are being introduced and there are no important environmental effects.
  • constitutes a government response to a Parliamentary Standing Committee that summarizes the objectives and achievements of a current program.
  • could be considered administrative such as renewal of membership fees to an international organization.
  • constitutes a change in the governance of a program, regulation or Act.
  • other

Justification for Exemption:

Multy-line text field

A.10 Provide a Summary of the Proposal's major elements and socio-economic outcomes.

Multy-line text field

A.11 Describe any environmental effects (positive or negative; direct or indirect) of the Proposal and any mitigation strategies.

This section constitutes your analysis and will provide the evidence required to answer questions A-15 and A-16 below.

Multy-line text field

A.12 Which of the following sustainable consumption and production elements, if any, does the Proposal effect? Check all that apply.

Positive environmental effects

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  • Decreasing energy/GHG emissions of goods and services, affecting air.
  • Reducing toxic dispersion, affecting air, water and nature.
  • Enhancing green procurement practices
  • Enhancing material recyclability (reduced waste), affecting nature.
  • Reducing the material requirements for goods and services, affecting nature.
  • Enhancing sustainable use of renewable resources, affecting nature.
  • Extending product durability, affecting nature.
  • Increasing the service intensity of goods (i.e.: product-service systems) affecting nature.

Negative environmental effects

Check box field

  • Increasing energy use and GHG emissions of goods and services, affecting air.
  • Increasing toxic dispersion, affecting air, water and nature.
  • No material recyclability (increased waste), affecting nature.
  • Increasing the material requirements for goods and services, affecting nature.
  • Reducing sustainable use of renewable resources, affecting nature.
  • No product durability (planned obsolescence), affecting nature.

A.13 Describe how elements of the Proposal may affect the achievement of the goals of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy, as applicable. (See Annex Five). Answers to A.11 and A.12 will support the development of this answer.

Multy-line text field

A.14 A SEA is also a tool to forecast projects which may require environmental assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012. Will the Proposal generate designated projects that could require an environmental assessment under this Act? Will the Proposal generate projects on federal lands? See Annex Three for information on designated projects and federal lands under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012.

Designated Projects

Check box field

  • Yes
  • No

Federal Lands

Check box field

  • Yes
  • No

If yes, please describe.

Multy-line text field

A.15 Based on your responses to questions A.11 to 13, is it likely that any of the outcomes associated with the Proposal will have important environmental effects, whether they are positive or negative, direct or indirect?

Check box field

  • Yes
  • No

A.16 Based on your responses to questions A.11 to 13, is there a level of uncertainty whether this proposal will result in important environmental effects, whether they are positive or negative; indirect or direct?

Check box field

  • Yes
  • No

A.17 Have any public concerns been identified or expressed about the possible environmental effects of the Proposal? If yes, please provide a brief summary. It may be appropriate to consult with Communications and Marketing Branch (CMB) to obtain advice to complete this section.

Multy-line text field

Note: If you answered "No" to questions A.15, 16 and 17, no further assessment is required and the Proposal Lead should proceed to Part B of the SEA Questionnaire to complete the SEA results summary for inclusion in the Proposal, followed by the requisite sign-offs in Parts E, F and G.
If you answered "Yes" to either of A.15, 16 or 17, the Proposal Lead should proceed to Part C to conduct a full SEA review.

Part B: SEA Results Summary

The SEA Results Summary is to be included in Memorandums to Cabinet in the MR section as well as Annex E: Findings in Mandatory Assessments or for Treasury Board Submissions in Annex H – Government-wide Policy Considerations (Environmental and Sustainable Development Requirements).

If a full SEA is required based on the potential for important environmental effects, please proceed to the SEA (Part C).

If the Proposal is exempted from the preliminary scan process, a short results summary is required for inclusion in the final Proposal document for Minister or Cabinet consideration in accordance with the paragraph provided below:

In accordance with the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals (2010), this Proposal is exempted from the Preliminary Scan process. [Insert the reason it was exempted according to the response in A8 (special case) or A9 (low risk)].

If a Preliminary Scan is completed on the Proposal, then a short results summary is required for inclusion in the final Proposal document for Minister or Cabinet consideration in accordance with the paragraph provided below:

In accordance with the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals (2010), a Preliminary Scan was conducted for this Proposal. The Preliminary Scan indicated that the proposal is unlikely to result in important environmental effects. [Insert the results of the Preliminary Scan. Include relevant information on mitigation, follow up, and recommendations if possible. Include a summary of the linkages to the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy goals and targets]. Designated projects and projects arising from this proposal will be assessed as per the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act 2012 and other applicable legislation prior to decisions being made.

If a full SEA is completed on the Proposal, a results summary is required for inclusion in the final Proposal document for Minister or Cabinet consideration in accordance with the paragraph provided below:

In accordance with the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals (2010), a Strategic Environmental Assessment was conducted for this Proposal. The SEA indicated that the Proposal is likely to result in important environmental effects. [Insert the results of the SEA. Include relevant information on mitigation, follow up, and recommendations if possible. Include a summary of the linkages to the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy goals and targets]. Designated projects and projects arising from this proposal will be assessed as per the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act 2012 and other applicable legislation prior to decisions being made.

Part C: Full SEA Review

There is flexibility in how a full SEA is developed. Normally, a full SEA includes the production of a report which addresses the following six key elements, and provides information on the proposal and all of its alternatives:

  1. A description of the Proposal's activities or outcomes (direct or indirect) that is likely to have important environmental effects, positive or negative. The activities may include, for example, an existing or new process, technology or delivery arrangement with important environmental implications.
  2. A description of the scope and nature of environmental affects (including direct or indirect; positive or negative), such as timing; location and magnitude; frequency and duration; risk and irreversibility; cumulative nature; and other interactions with the environment.
  3. A description of whether and how the environmental effects could be mitigated if negative or enhanced if positive.
  4. A description of the impact of the Proposal on the achievement of Federal Sustainable Development Strategy goals and targets (Annex Five).
  5. A description of any proposed follow-up measures which could be put in place to monitor the environmental effects of the Proposal and/or its effects on the achievement of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy goals.
  6. A description of any public or stakeholder concerns and knowledge (e.g., local and traditional knowledge) regarding the Proposal's potential environmental effects. Please also indicate how these concerns were identified (e.g., published statements, public consultations, etc.)

Part D: Proposed Public Statement (to be developed in coordination with CMB)

A public statement is mandatory when a full SEA is completed for a Proposal. A Public Statement is also required in unique circumstances such as a generally high level of public concern about the initiative or there is uncertainty about environmental. Although not mandatory, the Cabinet Directive also encourages departments and agencies to prepare a Public Statement of Preliminary Scans in support of transparency and accountability. The Public Statement should indicate how the Proposal impacts on the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy goals and targets. (See Annex Two for more information on how to prepare a Public Statement).

D.1. Are there concerns or constraints respecting public disclosure of the SEA results when a public announcement is made of the approved proposal?

Check box field

  • Yes
  • No

D.2 If yes, please explain:

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D.3 If no, please provide a proposed Public Statement.

Part E : Proposal Lead Sign off

Multy-line text field

  • Author, Title: (single line text field)
  • Organization: (single line text field)
  • Phone: (single line text field)
  • E-mail: (single line text field)
  • Signature: (single line text field)
  • Date: (single line text field)
  • Director: (single line text field)
  • Organization: (single line text field)
  • Phone: (single line text field)
  • E-mail: (single line text field)
  • Signature: (single line text field)
  • Date: (single line text field)

Part F: Director General Attestation

The purpose of the Director General attestation is to ensure that an assessment of potential environmental effects has been conducted using ISED's Strategic Environmental Assessment process and the results have been incorporated into the final Proposal.

I, [name] as Director General on behalf of [Branch name], hereby attest that the results of the Strategic Environmental Assessment have been taken into account in the development of [name of Proposal for which the SEA was developed], and that I approve the public statement (if necessary).

Space to insert signature

Signature

Space to insert date

Date

Part G: SEA Advisor Approval and Comments, if necessary

The purpose of the SEA Advisor approval is to ensure that the SEA process has been followed and to provide any additional comments, if necessary.

SEA Advisor Comments

Multy-line text field

I, [name] as Departmental SEA Advisor, hereby approve the Strategic Environmental Assessment for [name of Proposal for which the SEA was developed] and confirm that the process had been followed.

Space to insert signature

Signature

Space to insert date

Date