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Researchers have compiled the first database of mine and quarry projects subject to environmental impact assessments across Canada over a 50-year period, and found significant gaps in transparency, data availability and regulatory consistency.

In Canada, roughly 200 active mines and 6,500 quarries produce 60 commodities. Many proposed mines and large quarries undergo impact assessments (IA) to predict potential impacts and inform decisions to approve or deny them, along with conditions to mitigate risk.

The report's database, published in the journal FACETS, includes 266 impact assessments of 227 mining and quarrying projects in 13 jurisdictions proposed from 1974 to 2023. Included projects represent everything from coal, peat and oil sands in the 1980s to today's growing interest in metals, like gold and silver, and critical minerals such as copper and nickel.

The research, co-led by Dr. Alana Westwood of Dalhousie University's School for Resource and Environmental Studies and PhD candidate Ben Collison, found low transparency from most provincial regulators. Despite assessment information being required by law to be provided to the public in many jurisdictions, it was unavailable or incomplete for 20 per cent of projects on average.

The study also determined that 60 per cent of assessments submitted to provincial and federal regulators for the same project showed significant discrepancies in proposed project sizes, footprints and durations.

The researchers state that impact assessment processes have enormous potential to facilitate data sharing and societal co-operation on new industrial developments, like mines. The study encourages all levels of government to enhance jurisdictional alignment to make Canada a world leader in responsible subsurface resource development.

The database is now available as a resource for policymakers, regulators, researchers and the public to better understand the environmental implications of mining development in Canada. Dr. Westwood and Mr. Collison are available to discuss the study findings as governments move to streamline the approval of major industrial projects through legislative changes.

Please see this Commentary by the authors in Policy Options.

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Media contact:

Alison Auld
Senior Research Reporter
Dalhousie University
Cell: 1-902-220-0491
Email: alison.auld@dal.ca

Author contacts:

Dr. Alana Westwood
Associate Professor, School for Resource and Environmental Studies
Dalhousie University
Tel: 1-902-494-7100
Email: a.westwood@dal.ca

Ben Collison
PhD Candidate, School for Resource and Environmental Studies
Dalhousie University
Tel: 1-250-431-8799
Email: b.collison@dal.c