Environmental assessment praxis for planners in Ontario IO

<p>With the current provincial government’s proposed amendments to the Environmental Assessment Act through Bill 108, More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019 and Bill 197, COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020, the future of Environmental Assessment (EA) in Ontario is unclear. Likewise, the ways in which professional planners engage with EA as “Environmental Planners” have not been explored in depth. This major research paper attempts to bring to light how professional planners of all types engage in the municipal, provincial, and federal EA processes. This objective is approached through a sweep of current and past scholarly and professional literature and informed through professional best practice interviews with ten EA practitioners. Through the discussion of interview results, this paper acts as a pulse-check of EA effectiveness, as well as informing how EA has evolved as a planning tool. Several recommendations have been</p> <p>made to various EA stakeholders to enhance EA in Ontario moving forward (Table 1).</p>