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AI-Assisted Environmental Impact Assessment Review

Planning & Decision-making · Ecology

What it collects

Operational data
Anonymized data
  • Technical studies, geospatial data, and public submissions from the unclassified, publicly available IAAC Registry (https://www.iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations). No personal information is processed.
About a place
Anonymized data
  • Geospatial data from impact assessment files in the IAAC Registry, describing project locations and environmental contexts relevant to federal impact assessments.
Run by
Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC)
Where
No fixed location
Kept
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
Shared with
Accountable organization
Your copy
You cannot see the data it holds about you. What you can do

What it is for

Planning & Decision-makingEcology

This system helps Government of Canada analysts review complex environmental impact assessment files by automatically summarizing technical studies, modeling potential impacts, and surfacing structured recommendations. Final decisions are always made and approved by human reviewers. The system processes publicly available, unclassified information from the federal Impact Assessment Registry and does not involve personal information.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

Operational data
Anonymized data
  • Technical studies, geospatial data, and public submissions from the unclassified, publicly available IAAC Registry (https://www.iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations). No personal information is processed.
About a place
Anonymized data
  • Geospatial data from impact assessment files in the IAAC Registry, describing project locations and environmental contexts relevant to federal impact assessments.

Processing

Search & Retrieval
  • Conducts agentic search across the IAAC Registry to surface relevant technical studies, geospatial records, and public submissions for analyst review during impact assessment processes.
Language Models
  • Used to summarize complex technical studies and public submissions, and to generate structured recommendations and decision-support content for human reviewer consumption.
Classification & Prediction
  • Models and predicts potential environmental impacts from structured inputs including technical studies and geospatial data, producing categorized impact assessments for analyst review.

What it does

Acting (Agentic AI)
Human decides
  • Conducts agentic search across the IAAC Registry, summarizes technical studies, models impacts, and composes structured recommendations — all of which are submitted for human review and approval before any decision is made.
Deciding (Analytical AI)
Human decides
  • Models and scores potential environmental impacts from structured data including technical studies and geospatial data, producing recommendations and impact models for analyst review.
Understanding (Semantic AI)
Human decides
  • Reads and summarizes large volumes of technical studies, geospatial data, and public submissions from the IAAC Registry, extracting relevant meaning to support analyst review.

Outputs

A recommendation or prediction
Anonymized data
  • Structured recommendations and summaries for human review and approval, including impact models and decision-dashboard content produced from IAAC Registry data. All outputs are advisory; no automated determination is made.
Operational data
Anonymized data
  • Decision dashboards, compliance monitoring reports, and structured summaries of impact assessment files, all derived from publicly available IAAC Registry data and intended for Government of Canada analyst use.

Run by

Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC)
  • The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada deploys and operates IADSA to support federal environmental impact review processes. The Agency is responsible for ensuring transparency, accountability, and compliance with Government of Canada requirements.

Government of Canada AI Register — IADSA

Built by

Government of Canada
  • The system was developed by the Government of Canada. No external vendor is identified in the register entry.

Government of Canada AI Register — IADSA

Kept for

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Shared with

Available to the accountable organization
  • Outputs — including summaries, impact models, and decision dashboards — are available to Government of Canada employees (primary users), specifically Impact Assessment Agency of Canada analysts.
Not available to me
  • AI use is not disclosed to users or the public. Members of the public whose submissions are processed by IADSA are not informed of AI involvement, and AI-produced outputs are not directly available to individuals.

Stored

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

How to read the colours

Can it identify you?

Anonymized data
Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
Pseudonymous data
Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
Identifiable data
The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.

Who completes the loop?

Human decides
This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
Human executes
This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
Autonomous
This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.

Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.

What you can do

Ask about this system

Questions go to the Helpful Places, not the vendor.

Your rights

  • Right to Algorithmic TransparencyThe Government of Canada discloses this system in the public AI Register. However, the register entry indicates that AI use is not disclosed to the users or the public whose submissions are reviewed. Members of the public seeking information about how this system operates may consult the Government of Canada AI Register at https://open.canada.ca.
  • Right to Be Informed of AI UseThe register entry states that AI use is not disclosed to users or the public. Members of the public who have submitted materials to impact assessment processes should be aware that AI tools may assist in reviewing their submissions, as disclosed in the Government of Canada AI Register.

Risks and safeguards

  • Civil liberties harmAutomated summarization and impact modeling could introduce bias or omit critical information in impact assessment reviews, potentially affecting communities and stakeholders whose submissions are reviewed.Safeguard: Final decisions remain human-led and accountable; all IADSA outputs are structured recommendations requiring human review and approval before any determination is made.
  • Societal & cultural harmAI summarization of public submissions, including those from Indigenous groups and the public, could misrepresent or under-weight perspectives, undermining meaningful engagement.Safeguard: IADSA is described as enhancing engagement with groups, stakeholders, and the public, and final approval remains with human reviewers. The system processes unclassified, publicly available information only.