Request a review of your project near water: Step 3. Check if your project needs a review

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has arrangements with certain provincial governments and a federal agency who determine if there is a need for DFO involvement in the project when conducting reviews under their respective jurisdictions. Before submitting your project for review to DFO, check first if you need to go through these provincial governments or the Canada Energy Regulator (CER).

Provincial governments

New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have provincial review processes for projects near water. Through these review processes, you'll be informed if you need to have your project reviewed by the Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program (FFHPP).

For projects located in New Brunswick, contact the:

• Department of Environment and Local Government (freshwater environments) to obtain a Watercourse and Wetland Alteration Permit
• New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development (marine and coastal environments)

For projects located in Prince Edward Island, contact the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action for a Watercourse, Wetland and Buffer Zone Activity Permit.

Canada Energy Regulator

The Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program and the Canada Energy Regulator, formerly the National Energy Board, coordinate their efforts when reviewing energy infrastructure projects subject to the Canadian Energy Regulator Act to increase regulatory efficiency with respect to the conservation and protection of fish and fish habitat. This cooperative agreement is outlined in the 2023 Memorandum of Understanding between Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canada Energy Regulator for the Cooperation and Administration of the Fisheries Act and the Species at Risk Act Related to Regulating Energy Infrastructure, which was first signed in 2013.  

If your project is related to, for example, the construction, operation and abandonment of interprovincial and international pipelines and powerlines; pipeline traffic, tolls and tariffs; energy exports; and offshore renewable energy projects; send your project to the CER for review. Under the 2023 agreement, the CER will assess the impacts from the proposed project on fish and fish habitat under the Fisheries Act and the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and will forward the project to FFHPP if an authorization or permit under these Acts may be required.

There are exceptions to this agreement. Proponents must submit a request for review directly to their regional Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program office if the proposed project is:

• located within the critical habitat of an aquatic species at risk
• located in the marine environment, involving for example marine terminals, marine shipping or marine cables
• subject to federal impact/environmental assessment regimes

For more information related to applications and filing under the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, consult the Canadian Energy Regulator Act applications website.

Under the Species at Risk Act, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada is responsible for protecting aquatic species (including their critical habitat and residences), listed as extirpated, endangered, or threatened on Schedule 1 of the Act, except for the ones located on federal lands managed by the Parks Canada Agency. If your project could affect a listed aquatic species in a national park, national historic site, or national marine conservation area, please apply to Parks Canada directly.

Note: An aquatic species is a fish, shellfish, crustacean, marine animal or marine plant.

Determine if there are aquatic species at risk or critical habitat in your area by checking our aquatic species at risk maps. The maps provide an overview of the distribution of aquatic species at risk and the presence of their critical habitat within Canadian waters. If your project is located within the distribution of an aquatic species at risk, you must also consult the recovery documents of the species in question to determine whether residence was identified for that species and where it can be found. You’ll need approval from DFO if you want to undertake an activity that affects an aquatic species at risk in a way that is prohibited by SARA.

Please note that the decision whether to issue or not permit under the Species at Risk Act is “Crown conduct” to which the duty to consult will apply and, when appropriate to accommodate, when Aboriginal or treaty rights may potentially be adversely affected. The Species At Risk Act contains additional requirements that need to be fulfilled, including the consultation of wildlife management boards and bands under the Indian Act when the affected aquatic species at risk is found in land claim settlement areas, reserves or any other lands that are set apart for the use and benefit of a band (under subsections 73(4) and (5) of the Act). For more information on Indigenous consultation, please consult the Crown duty to consult and, when appropriate, accommodate.

If your project could negatively affect aquatic species at risk, please submit a request for review form. Send completed forms to your regional office.

You’ll need to contact Environment and Climate Change Canada if your activity affects other species at risk, including:

• frogs
• seabirds
• freshwater
  • turtles
  • reptiles
  • plants

Determine if the project is located in a marine protected area and if the proposed activity is allowed in the relevant governing regulations by consulting Marine Protected Areas across Canada. DFO cannot approve an activity that is prohibited by the marine protected area Regulations. Approval from DFO will be required prior to carrying out activities allowed in marine protected areas.

Before submitting your project for review, please refer to the Aquatic Invasive Species website for guidance on species identification, prevention, control and eradication methods, reporting procedures, and more.

If your project involves the use of a pest control product or drug (deleterious substance) against an aquatic invasive species, please submit an application to the Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) National Core Program (Form for authorization for the use of deleterious substances).

If the project involves works, undertakings or activities in or near water aimed at preventing, controlling or eradicating aquatic invasive species, please submit a request for review form.

Send completed forms to your regional office.

If the risks from the project can be completely managed using the measures to protect fish and fish habitat you do not need to request a project review.

• approved marine disposal or dumping sites
• tailings impoundment areas as listed in Schedule 2 of the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations
• artificial waterbodies that aren’t connected to a waterbody that contains fish at any time during any given year, such as:
  • private ponds
  • roadside drainage ditches
  • quarries and aggregate pits
  • irrigation ponds or channels
  • stormwater management ponds
  • agricultural drains and drainage ditches
  • commercial ponds like golf course ponds or stocked fishing ponds
• any other waterbody that:
  • doesn’t contain fish at any time during any given year and
  • isn’t connected to a waterbody that contains fish at any time during any given year

Notify us if you plan to use a code of practice using the new Project Submission Tool.

You can also submit using this PDF version of the form (50 KB). In the event you need to use the PDF form instead, you must:

1. download it to your computer
2. use PDF software to open it (such as, Adobe Reader or Foxit PDF)
3. fill out and save the form
4. email the completed form to your regional DFO office

This information will be used to monitor the quality and effectiveness of the guidance being provided.

Check if there are approved industry best practices that apply to your project. If you can follow the measures in an applicable equivalent industry practice, we do not need to review your project.