Gendered & Intersectional Implications of Energy & Resource Extraction in Resource-Based Communities

Resource development in the North is seen as an integral to Canada’s economic growth, but more needs to be done to protect the environment and to ensure neighbouring communities can benefit from and provide input into the energy and resource extraction projects they host.

While Impact Benefit Agreements (IBAs) negotiated between private resource companies and affected communities may be considered a means to this end, IBAs are often insufficient and ineffective at delivering protection for and equitable benefits to communities.

Therefore, this report focuses on how existing government policies and regulations could better support northern communities affected by natural resource developments. Specifically, integration of gender-based analysis (GBA) into environmental assessments (EAs) presents a valuable opportunity to uncover and address not only anticipated environmental effects, but the socioeconomic and cultural impacts such projects will have on diverse northern residents.