Quality through policy: Canadian strategic environmental assessments

To ensure environmental excellence in its own operations, the government of Canada has been formally committed to strategic environmental assessment (SEA) since 1990. As an environmental assessment tool, the federal government uses SEA to predict the environmental effects of policy, plan and program proposals and uses these predictions to inform the decision making process. However, evidence suggests that application of SEA in Canada has been inadequate and the quality of the assessments has been poor. This study investigates the quality of Canadian SEA and provides recommendations to improve its value as an important decision-making support tool. Based on content analysis of four SEAs representing Canada’s dual stream of policy and legislated approaches, SEA quality is assessed and alternative approaches of SEA are examined. Drawing on these findings, the study proposes alternative options for SEA delivery. After evaluating these alternatives, the study recommends a series of options to improve SEA quality.