Compétences Professionnelles et Employabilité des Jeunes en Environnement (COPEJ)

Youth Professional Skills and Employability in Environment (COPEJ) – Public consultation period

October 6th, 2026 – Global Affairs Canada must determine whether the proposed project, located in Senegal, is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform determination, Global Affairs Canada is inviting the public to comment on this determination. All comments received will be considered public and may be posted online.

Written comments may be submitted by November 5th, 2026 to:

Environmental Specialists

Global Affairs Canada

200 Promenade du Portage
Gatineau (QC) J8X 4B7

Email : CommentsIAARegistry-CommentairesRegistreLEI@international.gc.ca

 

The proposed project

Initiated by the Cégep de la Gaspésie et des Îles (Cégep), the "Compétences Professionnelles et Employabilité des Jeunes en Environnement (COPEJ)" project aims to improve community resilience by integrating young women and men into a sustainable, inclusive economic system that promotes adaptation to climate change. It addresses three major challenges: helping populations adapt to climate change, fighting poverty in the project's intervention areas, and integrating young people, especially young women, into the socio-economic lives.

With a duration of 6.5 years (2025-2032), it targets the communities of the Saloum Delta and the Senegal River Delta; two regions that are particularly vulnerable to climate change. These two areas, composed of several protected areas, face severe climate impacts: sea level rise, extreme weather events, floods, coastal erosion, salinization of agricultural land, and loss of biodiversity. These phenomena are deteriorating people's living conditions, making them more vulnerable to food insecurity and poverty.

The COPEJ project will focus on three main areas to strengthen community resilience to climate change:

• Training young people in the fields of the blue and green circular economy;
• The integration of young people and women into jobs related to these fields;
• Their participation in the governance of sustainable resource management.

• The construction of the two school companies taking into account vulnerabilities and people living with disabilities.

Description of structures

The project consists of the construction of two school companies as part of the COPEJ project. The project's infrastructure consists of:

• Accommodation infrastructure: Bed and breakfast, student housing, permanent housing, sisters' housing.
• From the agri-food workshop

• Administrative and educational buildings: Conference room, classrooms, daycare, technical room and administrative block

All infrastructure will be built primarily in Adobe, a sustainable local material with a low carbon footprint compared to conventional materials, such as concrete or cement. Its use also improves the thermal performance of buildings and reduces the energy needs related to cooling indoor spaces. The energy required for the operation of the school company will be provided by a photovoltaic solar system that transforms the direct current from the photovoltaic panels into alternating current.

The Agri-Food Workshop

The agri-food workshop will be built in Adobe on an area of approximately 200 m² for the main structure, with an estimated total usable area of 600 m². Including a 15% ratio for circulation and service spaces, the total surface area is estimated at approximately 690 m². The infrastructure will include five processing units, including juice and jam processing, fishery products, milk and cheese, laboratory innovation, and a bakery.

These units will be made of insulated metal panels and integrated into the main adobe structure. This part will include communal changing rooms and sanitary facilities, made with local sustainable materials. The workshop will also include a sectional cold room attached to the processing units for the preservation of products.

The system will be completed by reinforced ventilation to ensure adequate sanitary and thermal conditions.

There is also provision for a sanitary SAS (buffer space dedicated to hygiene) for mandatory staff including double compartment changing rooms, sanitary facilities and hand washing points in accordance with hygiene standards.

Accommodation infrastructure

The accommodation infrastructure consists of an ecotourism lodge, student housing, permanent staff housing and housing for the sisters. They will require the development of an area of approximately 1,250 m², representing nearly 2% of the total site area. The accommodation facilities have an estimated capacity of 130 people, including 10 permanent residents. The main characteristics of this infrastructure are presented in the table below:

Table 1: Characteristics of hosting infrastructure

Type	Surface	Key developments
Ecotourism B&B	200 m²	Ecological sanitary facilities (solar showers). Common areas: Nature library
Student accommodation	600 m²	Two separate blocks. Modular dormitories, shared bathroom, kitchen, laundry, refectory.
Permanent housing	200 m²	Individual studios, solar kitchenette, autonomous sanitary facilities.
Sisters' housing	250 m²	Chapel, refectory, separate bedrooms.

 Administrative and educational spaces

The project's administrative and educational spaces consist of a conference room, four classrooms, an administrative block, a daycare and a technical room. These infrastructures will occupy a total usable area of approximately 505 m². It occupies about 0.8% of the total surface area of the site. The main components and their measures are presented in the following table.

Table 2: Measurements of administrative and educational spaces

Common areas and Admin. By site	Surface area (m²)
Conference Room	80
Classrooms	200
Administrative block	150
Daycare	50
Local technique	25
Total approximate usable area	505

 

Integrated agroecology and fish farming production system

The integrated production system is based on the interaction between horticultural and fish farming activities in an agroecological approach that promotes the optimization of natural resources and the enhancement of synergies between the different production subsystems.

Agroecology will be developed on an area of approximately one hectare, representing nearly 16.7% of the total area of the training business. The fish farm will be carried out in basins with a capacity of about forty cubic metres (40 m3). These sustainable production practices will aim to rationalize the use of factors of production, including water, fertilizers and energy.

Domestic wastewater will be collected and treated by an all-water septic tank, ensuring pre-treatment by settling and anaerobic digestion of the materials. The sizing will be adapted to the number of users. An additional treatment device (underground spreading or sand filter) will clean the effluent before it is discharged or infiltrated into the ground, depending on the results of the preliminary soil study. In the event that the soil study reveals insufficient permeability to allow the infiltration of the treated effluents, a watertight storage tank will be provided as an alternative, with periodic emptying and evacuation to an approved treatment facility.

Right from the design phase, the choice of site and various infrastructures took into account several environmental and socio-economic criteria aimed at limiting the project's potential impacts on the receiving environment. The integration of mitigation measures and environmental protection will be required throughout the construction phase. These will include:

• The construction of buildings on areas with low vegetation coverage in order to limit land clearing operations and the loss of natural habitats;
• To ensure the suitability of the soils for the implementation of an integrated production system combining agroecology and aquaculture;
• Ensure the distance of watercourses and sensitive areas in order to reduce the risks of pollution and degradation of water resources;
• the construction of compressed earth bricks (BTC), reducing the project's carbon footprint by avoiding the use of cement;
• Taking into account the pedological and topographical characteristics favourable to water infiltration, the development of infrastructures and the planned production activities;
• The integration of an autonomous rainwater recovery system and its reuse in the hydraulic network of school companies;
• The integration of an autonomous wastewater treatment system with the use of purification plants;
• The development of natural ventilation systems that reduce the use of air conditioners or do without them.

Heavy earthworks are concentrated outside the rainy season (December to May) to limit the risks of stagnation and erosion, particularly in Mbodiéne, where this point has been identified as a specific issue. The cleaning of adobe surfaces (wet sweeping, adapted products) is anticipated from the design stage in order to avoid washing with water and the use of chlorinated detergents, which are harmful to adobe and bacteria useful for treating wastewater in septic tanks. The landscaping and planting, planned for Phase 2, will contribute to soil stabilization and surface water management around the buildings.

Description of the site's environment/characterization:

Rao

The Rao site is located in the ecogeographic zone of the Senegal River Valley and particularly in the commune of Gandon. The district of Rao is bounded to the west by the Senegal River and the Atlantic Ocean, to the south and southeast by the districts of Sakal and Keur Momar Sarr, to the north by the commune of Saint Louis and to the east by the commune of Mpal.

The climate of the commune of Gandon is of the Sahelian type and is characterized by the alternation of two seasons: a dry season that lasts 9 months (November to June/July) and a rainy season that lasts 3 months (July/August to October). Precipitation is low (below 400 mm), irregular and unevenly distributed. On the site of the school company, there are mainly sandy tropical ferruginous soils, in particular Dior soils, which are very sandy, poor in clay and organic matter, and which developed on Quaternary dunes (former sandy deposits). The immediate environment of the Rao site is marked by the presence of natural tree vegetation.

In the commune of Gandon, socio-economic activities revolve mainly around agriculture, livestock, fishing, the exploitation of forest resources and handicrafts. 

Mbodiene

The Mbodiène area has two seasons: the dry season (from November to June) and the rainy season (from July to October). Over the last 10 years, the commune has experienced an average annual rainfall of 532.39 mm and has a generally flat relief. Two aquifer systems (shallow and deep) are exploited in the Mbodiéne area, namely the Eocene surface aquifer and the Eocene deep aquifer. The surface aquifer of the Eocene has a very variable thickness and low permeability, while the deep aquifer of the Eocene encounters various unknown levels at often low thicknesses.

Biologically, the natural vegetation is typical of the Sudano-Sahelian climate. The area of the Mbodiène lagoon is particularly marked by the presence of avifauna (pelicans, egrets, cormorants, etc.). It plays an important role as breeding, feeding and resting habitat for migratory birds. On certain portions of the coastline, sea turtles are regularly reported.

Agriculture is the main activity and is dominated by millet and groundnut cultivation. Sorghum is mainly grown on vertisols in Mbodiéne. Livestock farming is also one of the main economic activities of the territory. In addition, fishing activity is mainly practiced in the village of Mbodiéne. Its landing stage shows the importance of artisanal fishing in the territory. The natives of Mbodiéne are essentially farmers engaged in subsistence fishing in the lagoon. The environment of the site has great tourist potential with the seaside resort of Laguna Beach in Mbodiéne, numerous camps as well as its heritage,

Geographic coordinates

Name	Location	Geographic Coordinates Format
School company	Mbodiene	Lat: 14,261 722 2, Lon: -16,850 222 2
School company	Rao	Lat: 15,918 194 4, Lon: -16,383 583 3