Environmental Damages Fund: Conservation and Climate Action
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/02/22
Samantha Bayard is a Spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada. She discussed how the Environmental Damages Fund (EDF) allocated $12.2 million to 22 projects following a rigorous selection process based on eligibility, scientific merit, environmental impact, and sustainability. Projects include conservation, restoration, and pollution mitigation efforts, benefiting ecosystems and communities across Canada. Indigenous organizations lead six initiatives, influencing project design and implementation. She noted how funding is sourced from fines under 14 federal legislative clauses, ensuring environmental remediation. Transparency and accountability are maintained through co-signed agreements, performance indicators, and regular reporting. EDF-funded projects align with national climate and pollution strategies, engaging 31,000 participants in activities like education workshops and habitat restoration.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What were the criteria used in the selection of the 22 projects for the acquisition of funding from the Environmental Damages Fund?
Samantha Bayard: The projects were selected following a call for applications launched in May 2023. The funding comes from fines that were available in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. Once the Call for Applications is closed, applications are reviewed by Environmental Damages Fund (EDF) regional teams to verify eligibility and to assess technical and scientific merit. All project applications are subject to the same evaluation process and criteria and are reviewed to ensure that they provide sufficient information to adequately assess the application and that they meet eligibility requirements. Following this administrative assessment, a project application may be examined by a team of technical reviewers, which may include experts from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), other federal government departments, or provincial departments (as applicable) to evaluate your application’s scientific and technical merit. The last step includes conducting a final evaluation of each of the applications received to assess the quality of applications, alignment with the program and fund priorities, environmental benefits and sustainability, monitoring and partnerships. Proposals are approved by senior executives from ECCC of the selected projects for funding.
Jacobsen: What are good examples of the conservation or restoration initiatives supported?
Bayard: Since the fund’s creation in 1995, more than $240 million has been invested in over 560 projects benefitting ecosystems and communities across Canada. To learn more about the completed and ongoing projects, visit the project map: Environmental Damages Fund: project map – Canada.ca
Jacobsen: How will the environmental outcomes be measured?
Bayard: When applying for funding under the EDF, organizations are required to provide performance indicators to demonstrate how projects will measure their results. Although they may vary by project, they are required to have at least one of the EDF performance indicators from the applicant guide included in their project.
Jacobsen: How will the 31,000 participants be engaged and contributions tracked?
Bayard: The participants will be engaged by the organizations receiving funding. Depending on the project’s purpose, participants could be engaged in a variety of activities such as: education workshops, tree and vegetation planting, or removal of invasive plant species. Funding recipients are required to report on their outcomes, including engagement (as applicable) to ECCC.
Jacobsen: For the involvement of the six Indigenous organizations, how will they influence project design and implementation?
Bayard: Six of the projects are being led by Indigenous organizations that submitted applications for funding. Funding recipients are responsible for the project and it’s work plan design, implementation of project activities and reporting on their activities, spending and results to ECCC.
Jacobsen: How does the Environmental Damages Fund allocate funds around fines and penalties? (Are there legislative clauses relevant to this?)
Bayard: The EDF is helping to ensure that environmental good follows environmental harm by using fines from environmental infractions to support projects that will benefit Canada’s natural environment, usually in the area where the violation occurred. Fines and penalties are automatically directed to the Fund under 14 federal legislative clauses, including the Fisheries Act, subsection 40(6), the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, and the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994. Five federal statutes contain discretionary clauses that can be used to direct fines and penalties to the Fund, including the Fisheries Act, paragraph 79.2(f).
Jacobsen: How does the $12.2 million investment support national strategies to combat climate change and pollution?
Bayard: The EDF invests in environmental solutions when individuals or companies intentionally or unintentionally harm the environment. The main goal of EDF-funded projects is to restore the environment and conserve wildlife and habitats in a scientifically sound, cost-effective, and technically feasible way. The fund invests in projects falling within four funding categories: restoration, environmental quality improvement, research and development, and education and awareness. To learn more about the Fund visit: What is the Environmental Damages Fund – Canada.ca
Jacobsen: How will transparency and accountability be ensured with the funds?
Bayard: As the administrator of the EDF, ECCC ensures that allocated funding is spent responsibly and in line with the program’s objectives. The EDF program and funding recipients co-sign funding agreements which include the project’s objectives, work plan, budget information and reporting requirements on project activities, spending and results. To support strong results, EDF program officers work closely with funding recipients on their reporting requirements to ensure projects are on track. This includes regular contact through a variety of means, such as e-mail, phone calls, virtual meetings and in-person visits, as necessary.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Samantha.
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