The Existing Substances Program of Environment Canada published a technical guidance document in 1997 – “Ecological Risk Assessments of Priority Substances under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act – Guidance Manual”. This manual was intended primarily for use by people leading ecological assessments of existing substances on the Priority Substances List (PSL), and the groups of experts who assisted them. It was also of interest to other organizations and individuals wishing to understand how Environment Canada conducted such assessments.

In 2000, the Existing Substances Branch, together with a Technical Advisory Group, selected 123 substances for a screening assessment pilot project, in order to develop and test new approaches that would enable evaluators to continue to produce scientifically rigorous assessments but in a more efficient manner than the PSL program permitted and to identify substances most likely to be of concern in the Canadian environment. To help in the early implementation of ecological screening assessments, Environment Canada developed a draft technical guidance manual, dated October 2001, – “Draft Screening Level Ecological Risk Assessment Guidance Manual”. This document was intended to provide provisional guidance to departmental evaluators as they engaged in the ecological assessment of substances from the pilot project. Although the document was not published, it was shared on request with interested parties.

The Existing Substances Division is currently updating its ecological assessment guidance to:

• Capture lessons learned from recent screening assessments conducted as part of the screening assessment pilot project,
• Capture expertise in data collection and generation developed during the categorization of the substances on the Domestic Substances List (DSL),
• Integrate expertise from other programs and jurisdictions, especially from other branches within the Science and Risk Assessment Directorate,
• Incorporate new science that has emerged since the last guidance documents were developed,
• Ensure that future assessments proceed in an efficient and transparent manner.

The updated guidance documents will:

• describe the Existing Substances Program, including its mandate, purpose, guiding principles and policies, the mechanisms used to identify substances for assessment, principles and approaches for assessment, and stakeholder involvement and public participation;
• outline what is done before, throughout and after the assessment in terms of internal administrative processes and policies which cover prioritization of substances for action, engagement of stakeholders, early interaction with risk managers, records of decisions and accountability, and concluding on an assessment and the associated outcomes;
• provide an overview of the scientific process used by evaluators in conducting ecological assessments;
• provide detailed technical guidance for evaluators on how to carry out ecological assessments, including how to select and use various assessment tools and resources.
  

Disclaimer: Although care has been taken to ensure that the information found on this website accurately reflects the requirements prescribed in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (1999), you are advised that, should any inconsistencies be found, the legal documents, printed in the Canada Gazette, will prevail.