Overview

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• Mission, vision, values
• Fields of activity
• Services
• Partners
• Clientele
• Administrative Structure

Mission, vision, and values

Mission

Ensure environmental protection and biodiversity conservation to improve the quality of the living environments of citizens.

Vision

In keeping with the paramount responsibilities it assumes with regard to its citizens and partners, the Ministère undertakes to:

Focus on protecting the environment and natural heritage to help sustainable development, with the collaboration of its partners.

Values

To carry out its mission, the Ministère bases its actions on the creativity of its employees and on the values of equity, thoroughness, responsibility, transparency and respect. The Ministère can count on a dedicated and enthusiastic staff that is committed to the organization’s mission.

Fields of Activity

The Ministère operates in the following areas:

• Devising and implementing policies, bills, draft regulations, and programs aimed primarily at:
  • preventing and reducing water, air, and soil contamination;
  • fighting and adapting to climate change;
  • ensuring the quality of drinking water;
  • managing water resources sustainably;
  • Conserving biodiversity;
  • reducing, reclaiming, and managing residual materials;
  
  
• Coordinating the government’s approach to sustainable development within the public service;

• Devising, coordinating, and implementing strategies for fighting and adapting to climate change;

• Protecting Québec’s ecosystems and biodiversity through the development of a network of protected areas and safeguarding endangered or vulnerable floristic species and their habitats;

• Conducting environmental assessments of projects and strategic evaluations of environmental issues;

• Overseeing environmental protection law and regulation enforcement, especially through authorization and permit application analysis, inspections, inquiries and administrative recourse;

• Managing the land of Québec’s public water property, especially by operating public dams and monitoring dam safety;

• Observing and gathering knowledge about ecosystems and their components;

• Maintaining intergovernmental and international relations in its areas of interest.

Services

Services provided by the Ministère include:

• issuing environmental authorizations and permits;
• making environmental emergency service available at all times, anywhere in Québec, through Urgence-Environnement;
• handling environmental complaints;
• conducting environmental analyses;
• accrediting environmental analysis laboratories and recognizing experts;
• providing professional and technical expertise on environmental issues;
• assisting government departments and agencies in their approach to sustainable development;
• producing information and documentation on the environment, climate change and sustainable development in the context of its mission.

Partners

The Ministère relies on two key partners to fulfill its mission: The Société québécoise de récupération et de recyclage (RECYC-QUÉBEC), which promotes the reclamation of residual materials, and the Bureau of Environmental Public Hearings (BAPE), which conducts inquiries and public consultations.

The Ministère provides financial assistance to the Montréal Metropolitan Community (MMC) for air pollution control management on the Island of Montréal and for the enforcement of MMC Bylaw 2001-10.

The Ministère also works closely with the Ministère des Transports, de la Mobilité durable et de l’Électrification des transports, the Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l’Occupation du territoire, the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation, the Ministère de la Sécurité publique, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux and its network, and the Ministère des Finances, as well as with government agencies and municipalities. It maintains relations with environmental and conservation organizations, universities, research centres and associations representing municipal, industrial, Aboriginal and agricultural communities.

In addition, the Ministère takes part in Canadian environmental forums, including the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, and in international forums that deal with environmental issues, such as the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers, the Council of Great Lakes Governors and the Great Lakes Commission. It likewise collaborates on implementing the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, the Canada–United States Air Quality Agreement, and the activities of the International St. Lawrence River Board of Control, established by the International Joint Commission.

Québec has also forged new international partnerships in the fight against climate change. It has been a member of the Climate Group and Climate Registry since 2007 and joined the Western Climate Initiative and International Carbon Action Partnership in 2008. Québec signed a memorandum of cooperation with Ontario in 2008 to develop a carbon market in Canada and holds observer status with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a North American measure.

Clientele

The Ministère acts on behalf of Québec citizens to ensure a healthy environment and contribute to their quality of life in order to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. More specifically, the Ministère’s clientele consists of individuals, groups, organizations, laboratories, and businesses that may need to obtain authorizations under environmental legislation, that are accredited or recognized as experts by the Ministère or that wish to exercise rights under laws administered by the Ministère. The clientele also includes those seeking action for such purposes as preserving a natural environment or species and wishing to establish a conservation partnership.

Administrative Structure

The Ministère is composed of the Direction du bureau du sous-ministre, the Direction générale des barrages de l’État and six deputy ministries. It serves seventeen administrative regions in Québec.