The purpose of this thesis research was to investigate the potential effectiveness of Canada’s Strategic Assessment of Climate Change (SACC) Guidance in offering a new path for the integration of climate change considerations into federal impact assessment (IA) processes under the Impact Assessment Act (IAA), and, by doing so, helping to ensure that resulting decisions, at a minimum, do not hinder Canada’s ability to meet its climate change commitments. Three “effectiveness” criteria were developed to define “effectiveness” within the context of the research.

Two past federal environmental assessments (EAs) were chosen for review according to selection criteria. SACC Guidance was reviewed, summarized, and counterfactually applied to these EAs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with IA experts and practitioners. Additional EA/IA documentation regarding more current projects was also reviewed to understand how SACC Guidance was being implemented. Throughout data collection and analysis, attention was paid to how the SACC Guidance’s strengths and gaps may be linked to certain learning outcomes identified by Suškevičs et al. (2018, 2019), and how these learning outcomes link more broadly to the policy’s effectiveness. Data was collected using written notes and audio recordings, which were transcribed, coded, and analysed using NVivo software.

Ten strengths and gaps in the IAA/SACC Guidance’s approach to considering climate change in IA were identified. Four of these represent gaps which weaken the policy’s effectiveness, while five represent strengths which have a potential to enhance its effectiveness. One feature was determined to have the potential to act as either a strength or a gap depending on implementation. Three additional long-standing EA/IA issues were also identified, which more generally relate to how the IA process is structured, and thereby create gaps in IA’s handling of climate change considerations.

For each of the strengths and gaps identified, opportunities to build on strengths and fill gaps were also identified. Application of the learning framework created a nuanced understanding of the strengths and gaps, which served to enhance recommendations for opportunities to improve the IAA/SACC Guidance’s effectiveness. Generally, it was found that there is a relationship between enhancing the IAA/SACC Guidance’s learning approach and enhancing its effectiveness.