Canada’s Sustainable Trade Impact Assessment

The Sustainable Trade Impact Assessment (STIA) is Canada’s new model for evaluating how trade negotiations may affect people, communities and the environment.

The STIA replaces and integrates the Department’s two previous trade impact assessment processes:

• Environmental Assessment (EA)
• Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus)

Starting in 2025, all new trade negotiations will be assessed using the STIA framework. Trade negotiations launched before this date may follow the previous EA and GBA Plus approaches.

By bringing these analyses together, the STIA ensures that Canada’s trade policies and agreements promote sustainability, transparency, and inclusion while creating opportunities for economic growth and trade diversification. This process strengthens Canada’s competitiveness and resilience by aligning trade goals with environmental responsibility and inclusive growth in a fast-changing global economy.

The STIA process includes input from a broad range of stakeholders, including:

• federal, provincial and territorial governments
• civil society organizations (non-governmental and non-commercial groups)
• the private sector
• Indigenous Peoples
• the general public

Sustainable Trade Impact Assessments free trade agreements can be found in the full list of assessments.

Objectives

The STIA framework is designed to:

• help Canadian negotiators consider environmental and social factors throughout trade negotiations, to identify and manage potential risks and enhance overall benefits for Canadians
• assess possible environmental risks and opportunities that could result from a proposed trade agreement
• examine how diverse groups in Canada may be differently affected by, or benefit from, a proposed agreement
• identify domestic actions or policy measures that could further reduce risks and enhance positive outcomes
• engage a wide range of stakeholders throughout both the Initial and Final STIA phases, to inform decisions that advance sustainability, inclusion, and economic opportunity

Our approach to assessing trade agreements

To promote transparency and clarity, the assessment aims to be primarily conducted from a Canadian perspective, reflecting domestic priorities, policy frameworks, and available domestic data sources.

Where high-quality, reliable data is available for a partner country, it may also be used to add to the assessment.

Trade agreements are designed to deliver broad benefits and meaningful economic opportunities, while advancing environmental and social considerations to ensure there is no derogation from environmental and labour laws to encourage trade or investment. Our analytical approach recognizes that trade can have complex economic, environmental, and social implications —both positive and negative — and seeks to understand these interactions to inform better outcomes.

Accordingly, each STIA integrates two core analytical components:

• an EA, and
• a GBA Plus

By combining these perspectives, the STIA helps guide the development of sustainability-oriented and inclusive provisions across trade agreements.

Core components

Environmental assessment

For the purpose of the STIA, an environmental effect is defined as any change in the environment that may result from the trade agreement. Trade negotiations will be analyzed to identify effects on the environment such as:

• pollution in air, water, and soil
• effects on biodiversity
• effects on greenhouse gas emissions
• climate change impacts
• effects on Canada’s climate resilience

Gender-Based Analysis Plus

GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis which considers gender and other identity factors, including:

• age
• sex
• education
• language
• religion
• culture
• ethnicity
• geography (urban, rural, remote, Northern),
• income
• sexual orientation
• ability

We also consider the context within which people live, including systems and structures of power. We examine trade agreements to identify their impacts on diverse population groups, with particular attention to differences and inequalities.

Assessment phases

The phases of an STIA are closely aligned with the trade negotiation process to support the ongoing integration of environmental and GBA Plus considerations during negotiations.

For this reason, the STIA process has two main phases:

• The initial STIA, which begins at the same time as preparations for negotiations, to help inform negotiations
• The final STIA, which happens after the conclusion of negotiations and aims to measure the impacts of the agreement

Figure 1: Impact assessment phases

The quantitative and qualitative assessment

The STIA uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, depending on the availability and quality of data.

The quantitative analysis looks at anything that can be measured with data and numbers. We use economic modeling to estimate potential impacts of a trade agreement.

When conducting the quantitative assessment, we use an economic model called a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model.

A CGE model is a tool that uses data to simulate how an economy works. It allows experts to test what could happen if certain conditions change, such as when tariffs are lowered or new trade rules are introduced.

This modelling helps identify information such as:

• which sectors may produce more of an impact on the environment, for example by increasing emissions or using more energy and water
• which sectors may have the greatest effect on different groups of people

The qualitative analysis looks at impacts that cannot easily be measured with economic modelling alone. It examines how increased trade and investment between Canada and partner countries could affect the environment and social inclusion. This part of the analysis relies on trusted and verifiable data sources.

Reviewing trade policy mitigation and enhancement measures

When we evaluate trade agreements, we look at trade policy options that can reduce environmental and social risks and increase the benefits of a potential trade agreement. Not every risk or benefit that comes from a trade agreement can be solved through trade policy alone. This review gives trade negotiators a chance to use what we learn from our data and analysis to make agreements more sustainable and inclusive.

We review each trade agreement by grouping its chapters into key areas. This helps us identify where trade policy can best support Canada’s sustainable development goals. The chapters are grouped as follows:

• Goods and services
  • How goods and services move between countries
• Investment and government procurement
  • How investment is protected and how governments buy goods and services
• Inclusive trade and labour
  • How trade affects workers and diverse groups
• Environment
  • How trade can protect or impact the environment
• Institutional and dispute settlement
  • How countries work together and resolve trade issues

Guiding principles and policies

When conducting assessments, we follow four guiding principles:

• be flexible in applying the STIA framework given the wide range of types of trade agreements and the differing numbers of parties involved
• conduct the STIA in a timely manner so that it may influence decision-making before, during, and after negotiations
• align our practices with Open Government Principles to ensure transparency and accountability, consult with stakeholders before, during and after negotiations, and report on feedback received from consultations
• analysis and decision-making will be evidence-based and rely on data, science, and other quantitative and qualitative evidence sourced from Canadian and other reputable sources

Policies

The new Framework is consistent with the 2024 Cabinet Directive on Strategic Environmental and Economic Assessment and the Government of Canada’s approach on GBA Plus.

It further supports Canada's inclusive approach to trade and advances the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Contact us

For further information on the STIA, please contact the Sustainable Trade Policy and Dispute Settlement division at Global Affairs Canada by email: IAconsultationsEI@international.gc.ca.