Parks Canada’s environmental standards and guidelines

Challenge

Parks Canada Agency (PCA) owns, operates, maintains and repairs numerous water and land-based assets on Ontario Waterways. Namely the Trent-Severn Waterway and the Rideau Canal has undertaken breakwaters, dams, locks, marine walls, water retaining structures, wharves and docks, bridges and various access and service roads. To assist PCA in managing its assets, PCA retained SLR to prepare an Environmental Standards and Guidelines (ESG) document to provide clear and practical guidance and to set PCA’s expectations regarding how best to undertake construction, maintenance and repair projects on Ontario Waterways.

Solution

The objective was to ensure project development proceeds in an environmentally responsible manner and builds resilience of Parks Canada’s assets to the effects of climate change.

Impact

SLR’s document is now appended to construction tender documents issued by Parks Canada for projects on Ontario Waterways to encourage and facilitate consistency in the application of the environmental standards and help ensure climate change consideration are fully accounted for in project planning (including costing) and execution.