Federal Appendix to the Application Information Requirements
Fording River Extension Project

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Document reference number: 442

March 9, 2026

On this page

• Abbreviations and short forms
• 1 Introduction
  • 1.1 Scope of the impact assessment
  • 1.2 Selection of Valued Components
  • 1.3 Preparing the Application
  • 1.4 Federal permitting coordination
• 2 Indigenous Peoples
  • 2.1 Indigenous physical and cultural heritage, and structures, sites, or things of significance
  • 2.2 Current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes
  • 2.3 Health, social and economic conditions of Indigenous Peoples
  • 2.4 Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• 3 Contributions to inform decision making
  • 3.1 Canada's environmental obligations and climate change commitments
  • 3.2 Sustainability

Abbreviations and short forms

Adverse federal effects

"Adverse effects within federal jurisdiction" and "direct or incidental adverse effects" as defined under the Impact Assessment Act

AIR

Application Information Requirements

Application

The proponent's joint provincial Application and federal Impact Statement

COPC

Contaminant of Potential Concern

EAO

Environmental Assessment Office

ECCC

Environment and Climate Change Canada

the federal appendix

The federal appendix to the Application Information Requirements (replacing the Tailored Impact Statement Guidelines)

the proponent

EVR Operations Limited

the Project

The Fording River Extension Project

GBA Plus

Gender Based Analysis Plus

GHG

Greenhouse gas

IAA

Impact Assessment Act

IAAC

Impact Assessment Agency of Canada

SARA

Species at Risk Act

SACC

Strategic Assessment of Climate Change

VC

Valued component

1 Introduction

The federal impact assessment process is intended to prevent or mitigate significant adverse effects within federal jurisdiction — and significant direct or incidental adverse effects — by anticipating, identifying and assessing the effects of designated projects in order to inform decision making under the Impact Assessment Act (IAA).

IAAC has developed the Federal Appendix to the Application Information Requirements (the federal appendix) for the Fording River Extension Project (the Project) proposed by EVR Operations Limited (the proponent) that were tailored by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) during the Planning phase of the impact assessment process. This document replaces the Tailored Impact Statement Guidelines that would be used for a federal-only assessment process.

The Government of Canada is committed to meeting the objective of "one project, one review" in its review of projects. For the Project, IAAC is working closely with British Columbia's Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) following the Impact Assessment Cooperation Agreement Between Canada and British Columbia (2019). As part of those commitments, IAAC has developed this document as an Appendix to the provincial Application Information Requirements (AIR; available on the EAO's webpage) to clearly identify the requirements needed to assess adverse effects in federal jurisdiction that are not already assessed by the provincial process. To ensure ease of use, federal requirements described in this document have also been integrated into the AIR by the EAO so the requirements for a valued component (VC) are in one location. To avoid duplication, IAAC has deferred to provincial requirements where overlap exists, and has leveraged the means of other jurisdictions to simplify requirements (e.g. by relying on provincial standards).

The federal appendix includes information and studies IAAC considers necessary for the conduct of the impact assessment focusing only on adverse effects within federal jurisdiction, or direct or incidental adverse effects (collectively referred to as adverse federal effects hereafter) that could potentially be significant as informed by the nature, complexity and context of the Project, as well as by consultation and engagement with: the proponent, Indigenous groups, the public, other jurisdictions, federal authorities, and other interested parties.

The federal appendix (alongside the Application Information Requirements) was finalized following a joint comment period with the EAO, which ran from January 14, 2026 to February 15, 2026.

1.1 Scope of the impact assessment

In determining what information and studies are required in the proponent's Application^Footnote 1, as set out in the AIR and in this document, IAAC took into account the factors listed in subsection 22(1) of the IAA (Table 1), the aspects listed under the definition of federal jurisdiction in section 2 of the IAA (Table 2), and focused on elements anticipated to be material to decision making under the IAA as described in section 1.2 Selection of Valued Components. Only items not already required by the AIR and which are necessary to characterize effects in federal jurisdiction have been included in this document to minimize duplication of effort.

Table 1 describes the factors to be considered under section 22 of the IAA, and provides a reference to where in the AIR the requirements are included.

1.2 Selection of Valued Components

Valued Components (VCs) serve as the focal points for the impact assessment. The elements of the natural and human environments selected as VCs are those anticipated to be material for decision making under the IAA.

The VCs must be assessed following the requirements presented in Sections 5 and 6 of the AIR, the direction in the federal appendix, as well as the generic assessment methodology in the Generic Requirements for Impact Statements which outlines the steps that must be applied to the assessment of each VC.

IAAC compared the effects within federal jurisdiction to the valued components identified for the provincial process in Section 5 of the AIR and determined what aspects require additional detail. Table 2 describes each aspect within the definition of federal jurisdiction and includes rationale on whether or not it was added to the AIR.

1.3 Preparing the Application

The Application must address requirements outlined in IAAC's Generic Requirements for Impact Statements if those requirements are not already required by the AIR or the federal appendix. Where the proponent is of the opinion that certain information requested in this document or in the generic requirements is not required or cannot be provided, it must contact IAAC prior to submitting the Application to confirm whether the proponent's rationale for excluding the information is appropriate. The rationale must also be provided in the Application. In addition, the Application must identify the designated physical activity and physical activities that are incidental to the designated physical activity in accordance with the IAA (these activities should be developed with support from IAAC). The Project subject to the impact assessment includes both the designated physical activity and any indicental activities.

As relevant, the proponent is also encouraged to refer to the policy frameworks and guidance available in IAAC's Practitioner's Guide to Federal Impact Assessments including the Technical Considerations and References for the preparation of an Impact Statement, and to keep apprised of updates.

In preparing the Application, the proponent must adhere to ethical guidelines and cultural protocols governing research, data collection and confidentiality. The proponent must respect the obligation of protecting personal information, including for disaggregated data from small or unique populations, and adopt the established standards for the management of Indigenous data (e.g. the First Nations principles of Ownership, Control, Access and Possession or standards adopted by an Indigenous group for control over data collection and use), including obtaining permission from Indigenous groups before including information from or about them.

In determining what information and studies are required in the proponent's Application, as set out in the AIR and in this document, IAAC took into account the aspects listed under the definition of federal jurisdiction in section 2 of the IAA, and focused on elements anticipated to be material to decision making under the IAA as described in section 1.2 Selection of Valued Components. Only items not required by the provincial process and that are required to understand and address effects in federal jurisdiction have been included in this document to minimize duplication of effort. The Application must identify activities that involve periods of increased disturbance related to adverse federal effects and impacts on Indigenous Peoples and their rights.

1.4 Federal permitting coordination

IAAC will provide coordination of federal permits, licences or authorizations (collectively called permits) early and throughout the impact assessment process to provide:

• clarity on permitting requirements, timelines and processes through the development of detailed federal permitting plans; and
• transparency on the status and progress of permits through public reporting on the Canadian Impact Assessment Registry Internet site.

Under the IAA, federal authorities are prohibited from issuing permits before an impact assessment is completed. The proponent, however, is encouraged to develop federal permit applications concurrent with the impact assessment. In some cases, the same information and studies may be used to inform both the impact assessment and federal permits. Collecting and providing permitting information during the impact assessment process may expedite subsequent federal decisions, where applicable. Early engagement with the federal government, Indigenous communities and the public is essential to support a speedy review of federal permits.

2 Indigenous Peoples

The Application must demonstrate how impacts on Indigenous Peoples and their rights were considered and assessed, including:

• impacts resulting from any change to the environment on physical and cultural heritage or any structure, site or thing that is of historical, archaeological, paleontological or architectural significance;
• impacts resulting from any change to the environment on the current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes;
• changes to the health, social or economic conditions of Indigenous Peoples; and
• any adverse impacts on Indigenous rights.

Indigenous Peoples are best placed to understand how a project may impact them. The assessment of impacts on Indigenous Peoples and their rights must be done in collaboration with Indigenous groups as outlined in Description of engagement with Indigenous groups. Where relevant, the proponent must collaborate with Indigenous groups to incorporate information from or about them into the assessment of all VCs (e.g. biophysical VCs). The proponent must respect each Indigenous group's preferences for assessing impacts, and discuss with each Indigenous group whether it is appropriate for the proponent to provide its conclusions regarding (residual and cumulative) impacts on Indigenous Peoples and their rights. If an Indigenous group has provided their own conclusion, the proponent is not required to provide one.

The proponent is expected to engage with all Indigenous groups impacted by the Project, as set out in the Joint Assessment and Engagement Plan, and to describe the outcomes of that engagement in the Application. In addition, the results of engagement should be analyzed and presented separately for each Indigenous group. This group-specific assessment does not need to repeat the entire analysis of each VC, but should summarize and present the information relevant to that group. To the extent possible, each group-specific assessment should be done in a way that works best for that Indigenous group.

Where requested by Indigenous groups, parts or all of the assessments of effects on Indigenous Peoples and their rights can be combined in the group-specific assessment. For example, effects on the current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes and impacts on Indigenous rights to hunt, fish, and trap can be reported together. Indigenous groups may also identify holistic VCs that encompass multiple environmental, health, social, or economic elements. Undertaking these assessments together, when requested, will support consistent conclusions. In all cases, the Application must demonstrate that all requirements were met.

2.1 Indigenous physical and cultural heritage, and structures, sites, or things of significance

2.1.1 Effects to physical and cultural heritage, and structures, sites, or things of significance

The Application must also include:

• copies of correspondence with provincial, territorial or Indigenous authorities responsible for heritage resources with comments on any physical and cultural heritage resource assessment.

2.2 Current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes

The Application must assess the impacts of the Project to the current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes. The analysis must align with the steps set out in the Technical Guidance for Assessing the Current Use of Lands and Resources for Traditional Purposes under CEAA, 2012.

2.3 Health, social and economic conditions of Indigenous Peoples

The Application must assess the impacts of the Project on the health, social and economic conditions of Indigenous Peoples. The proponent is encouraged to refer to the Indigenous Mental Wellness and Major Project Development: Guidance for Impact Assessment Professionals and Indigenous Communities; the Final Report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, in particular the Calls for Justice for Extractive and Development Industries (Calls for Justice 13.1 to 13.5), and Health Canada's Interim Guidance: Health Impact Assessment of Designated Projects under the Impact Assessment Act.

2.3.1 Baseline conditions for the health, social and economic conditions of Indigenous Peoples

Baseline economic conditions of Indigenous Peoples

• describe Indigenous or federal economic development plans for the study areas; and
• describe relevant treaty provisions pertaining to economic activities for Indigenous Peoples.

2.3.2 Effects on Health, Social and Economic Conditions of Indigenous Peoples

Effects on Indigenous Peoples health

• justify if any human receptors, Contaminant of Potential Concern (COPC), or exposure pathways have been excluded from the quantitative human health risk assessment. In cases where there are no guidelines, standards, or criteria available for screening an environmental medium (e.g. country foods), the COPC must be included to determine whether there may be health risks associated with the predicted concentrations;
• assess impacts on the health of Indigenous Peoples from likely biophysical effect pathways considering:
  • air quality from Project-related air emissions including a comparison with Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards established by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, National Ambient Air Quality Objectives and relevant provincial standards. The proponent is encouraged to refer to Health Canada's Guidance for Evaluating Human Health Effects in Impact Assessment: Air Quality; and
  • for non-threshold air pollutants (e.g. PM2.5 and NO2), air quality criteria and guidelines must not be used as ‘pollute-up-to levels', since any increase in exposure will result in an incremental population risk. When pollutant levels approach or exceed applicable Canadian or provincial standards, the proponent is encouraged to compare against solely health-based guidelines (e.g. World Health Organization Global Air Quality Guidelines).

Effects on economic conditions of Indigenous Peoples

• describe the changes in employment for Indigenous groups, including:
  • if relevant and where concerned Indigenous groups agree with including this information, describe benefit agreement being considered or discussed;
  • provide an estimate of the levels of economic participation for Indigenous groups in comparison to the total Project requirements (e.g. employment, total dollar value of contracts);
  • describe the situations where the Project's activities may directly or indirectly create economic hardship or opportunities, or displace businesses; and
  • describe effects on the economic conditions of Indigenous groups resulting from environmental changes, as identified by Indigenous groups.

2.4 Rights of Indigenous Peoples

The IAA affirms the Government of Canada's commitment to ensure respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples of Canada recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. The proponent is encouraged to refer to IAAC's Guidance: Assessment of Potential Impacts on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Policy Context: Assessment of Potential Impacts on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and IAAC's Indigenous Advisory Committee Principles to Guide the Assessment of Impacts to Indigenous Inherent and Treaty Rights.

3 Contributions to inform decision making

At the decision-making phase of the IAA, should the decision maker determine that the adverse federal effects that are likely to be caused by the Project are likely to be, to some extent, significant, the decision maker will decide whether they are justified in the public interest in light of the extent to which they are significant and of the factors set out in section 63 of the IAA. The requirements in this section would inform the analysis of these factors.

3.1 Canada's environmental obligations and climate change commitments

IAAC, with the support of federal authorities, will analyze the Project's likely effects in the context of Canada's environmental obligations relevant to this Project, as well as the Project's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the context of Canada's emissions targets and forecasts. The information gathered during the planning phase suggests that this Project would generally not contribute to the Government of Canada's ability to meet its environmental obligations and climate change commitments. This is because of the Project's footprint on the receiving environment (e.g. habitat loss resulting in adverse effects on biodiversity) and the potential emissions caused by the Project (e.g. GHG emissions).

Where the proponent is of the view that the likely effects of the Project contribute to the Government of Canada's ability to meet its environmental obligations and/or its commitments in respect of climate change, the proponent is encouraged to substantiate this view in the Application by describing these likely effects and the extent of their contribution (e.g. net increase in biodiversity through what mechanism; or net GHG reductions through what actions).

3.1.1 Environmental obligations

Federal environmental obligations relevant to this Project include those set out in the following instruments:

Biodiversity

• Convention on Biological Diversity and Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its domestic framework: Canada's 2030 Nature Strategy, as well legislations supporting its implementation including SARA and recovery strategies and action plans developed under SARA for species at risk likely affected by the Project available on the species at risk public registry;
• Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar), as implemented in part under the Federal Policy on Wetland Conservation and the North American Waterfowl Management Plan; and
• Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds in the United States and Canada, as implemented in part under the Migratory Birds Convention Act (1994), and supporting conservation objectives from Environment and Climate Change Canada's (ECCC) bird conservation regions and strategies.

Air pollution

• the Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement, as implemented under the Air Quality Management System.

Water quality and quantity

• the Canada-US Boundary Waters Treaty, as implemented by the International Joint Commission.

The Application must:

• list likely effects on species listed in Schedule 1 of SARA and their critical habitat, as well as identify the measures that will be taken to avoid or lessen those effects and to monitor them, including measures from any applicable provincial framework. Where applicable, refer to descriptions of effects already provided for VCs elsewhere in the Application. The proponent is also encouraged to include additional species that the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada has recommended for listing as extirpated, endangered, threatened or of special concern.

Where the proponent is of the view that the likely effects of the Project contribute to environmental obligations, the proponent is encouraged to:

• describe plans and commitments that contribute to the above-listed environmental obligations; and
• with respect to the biodiversity^Footnote 3 obligations:
• describe and, where possible, quantify likely changes in biodiversity resulting from the Project referring to relevant guidance such as the Convention on Biological Diversity's Voluntary Guidelines on Biodiversity-Inclusive Impact Assessment;
• describe whether, applying the mitigation hierarchy, the Project would result in no net loss or in net positive impacts on biodiversity; and
• describe whether and how the Project's likely effects will contribute to the targets identified in Canada's 2030 Nature Strategy such as Target 2 (ecosystem restoration), Target 3 (protected and conserved areas), Target 4 (species recovery), Target 6 (invasive alien species), Target 7 (pollution and biodiversity, focusing on chemicals and air pollutants), Target 11 (ecosystem services and functions), Target 14 (mainstreaming of biodiversity values), Target 21 (knowledge sharing), and Target 22 (inclusion of Indigenous Peoples, women/girls, youth/children, persons with disabilities, and environmental human rights defenders in decision making).

3.1.2 Climate change commitments

Where the proponent is of the view that the likely effects of the Project contribute to Canada's climate change commitments, the proponent is encouraged to describe its plans and commitments accordingly.

Greenhouse gas emissions

The proponent may assess the Project's GHG emissions following the Strategic Assessment of Climate Change (SACC) and the technical guides related to the SACC, developed by ECCC, including the Guidance on quantification of net GHG emissions, impact on carbon sinks, mitigation measures, net-zero plan and upstream GHG assessment (Technical Guide). The proponent is encouraged to keep apprised of updates to the SACC and related technical guides published by ECCC.

3.2 Sustainability

Sustainability is the ability to protect the environment, contribute to the social and economic well-being of the people of Canada and preserve their health in a manner that benefits present and future generations. Information required throughout the AIR can be used to support the analysis of the extent to which the likely effects of the Project contribute to sustainability.

3.2.1 Extent to which the likely effects of the Project contribute to sustainability

The Application must:

• provide an analysis of the extent to which the project's likely positive effects and adverse federal effects contribute to sustainability according to the following steps:
  • identify the VCs from section 1.2 Selection of Valued Components and any additional key issues relevant to the sustainability analysis, informed by Indigenous Knowledge and the Project context;
  • describe the connections between the VCs identified for the sustainability analysis;
  • consider the benefits and costs to the environmental, health, social and economic well-being of present and future generations;
  • describe the balance of positive effects and adverse federal effects on the VCs; and
  • provide a conclusion on the extent to which the Project's effects contribute to sustainability from no contribution to low, moderate or high contribution.