The Marten Falls First Nation Community Access Road (Community Access Road) needs to meet both federal and provincial requirements prior to obtaining approval to build the road. The Final Environmental Assessment / Impact Statement (EA / IS) was prepared to meet the federal Tailored Impact Statement Guidelines and the provincial Terms of Reference.

The Final EA / IS incorporates feedback and comments provided on the Draft EA / IS, where appropriate, and includes:

• The process applied to select the Community Access Road Preferred Route;
• Existing conditions – the current state of the environment;
• Proposed mitigation measures – efforts taken to minimize negative impacts of the road and emphasize benefits;
• Residual effects – effects that still exist despite our best efforts to reduce them; and
• Cumulative effects – an assessment of the impact of the Community Access Road's remaining (residual) effects combined with other past, present, and future activities in the area.

Consultation and engagement undertaken from October 30, 2021 up to release of the final documents (i.e., February 20, 2026) is also included in the Final EA / IS and Technical Support Documents.

The Final EA / IS has incorporated comments, questions, and feedback received on the Draft EA / IS from Indigenous communities, the public, and regulators, as appropriate. The Final EA / IS also includes additional summarized information from the Technical Support Documents, such as peatlands, visual environment, community well-being, and Aboriginal and / or Treaty Rights and Interests (ATRI). Additional existing conditions information for groundwater is also provided.

The Final EA / IS includes thousands of pages of supporting documents. These range from Technical Support Documents for each valued component (see the full list below) to the Records of Consultation & Engagement for Indigenous communities, Interested Persons, and Government Agencies. The Technical Support Documents provide an in-depth analysis of each of the valued components including information on: existing conditions; potential impacts on the environment resulting from construction and long-term use of the road; mitigation measures to reduce negative effects while maximizing positive outcomes; residual effects after mitigations are applied; and cumulative effects in consideration of impacts from the Community Access Road and other foreseeable past, present, and planned projects.

The following Technical Support Documents are included in the Final EA / IS.

Water:

• Surface Water
• Fish and Fish Habitat
• Groundwater and Geochemistry
• Peatlands

Land:

• Vegetation
• Wildlife
• Birds
• Ungulates (moose and caribou)
• Physiography, Terrain, and Soils

People:

• Aboriginal and/or Treaty Rights and Interests
• Acoustic and Vibration Environment
• Cultural Heritage and Archaeology
• Atmospheric Environment
• Climate Change
• Community Well-Being (economic, human health and community safety and social)
• Land and Resource Use
• Visual Environment

Community-specific ATRI: Final Impact Assessment (IA) Reports are not included in the Final EA / IS Report. Individual reports will instead be provided to each Indigenous community as a separate technical document in Spring 2026. The Final EA / IS does, however, include an ATRI Summary Report (Appendix O) that includes a description of the methodology used to prepare the community-specific ATRI: Final IA Reports, along with the high-level findings. This approach was taken to provide Indigenous communities more time to provide Indigenous Knowledge, review their community-specific ATRI reports and to protect confidential information provided by Indigenous communities.

Providing feedback on the Final EA / IS helps shape the regulators’ decision around the proposed Community Access Road. Already your input on the voluntary Draft EA / IS helped inform the preparation of the Final EA / IS—over 1,900 comments on this draft were received and considered for incorporation into the Final EA / IS.

Comments received by the regulators on the Final EA / IS will be considered by the regulators to support their decision on whether the Final EA / IS meets the regulatory requirements, and if / how the Community Access Road can proceed (including terms or conditions of approval).

The Final EA / IS will be available online to view and download from the Community Access Road website (eais.martenfallsaccessroad.ca). A physical copy of the Assessment Summary package will also be distributed to Indigenous communities, and will be available for viewing at the following locations:

• Greenstone Public Library – Geraldton Branch: 405 2nd Street W., Geraldton
• Greenstone Public Library – Longlac Branch: 110 Kenogami Drive, Longlac
• Sioux Lookout Public Library – 21 Fifth Avenue, Sioux Lookout
• Matawa First Nations Management – 233 S. Court Street, 2nd Floor, Thunder Bay
• Timmins Public Library – 320 2nd Avenue, Timmins, ON P4N 8A4

A physical (paper) copy of the Final EA / IS and Technical Support Documents (20,000 – 30,000 pages) can also be provided on request—it should be noted that the hard-copy document will arrive in up to five banker boxes so please consider storage space at your facility if requesting.

Consultation and engagement during the review of the Final EA / IS will be undertaken by the federal and provincial government agencies. Further details on how to provide your feedback are forthcoming.

The Marten Falls First Nation Community Access Road Project Team engaged 23 Indigenous communities and tribal councils, including Marten Falls First Nation, during the Assessment Process. Through consultation and engagement activities, the Marten Falls First Nation Community Access Road Project Team has collected feedback, information and Indigenous Knowledge to inform the Preferred Route selection and support the development of the Final EA / IS.

Indigenous Knowledge Program

The sharing of Indigenous Knowledge has been facilitated by the Indigenous Knowledge Program. The purpose of the Indigenous Knowledge Program is to empower Indigenous communities to share information on their land and resource use, cultural practices and values, and rights and interests in the study area. Participation in the program enabled communities to either share Indigenous Knowledge and Indigenous Land and Resource Use information (previously collected by communities) or to complete project-specific Indigenous Knowledge and Indigenous Land and Resource Use Studies.

Reports

Through the Assessment Process, the Marten Falls First Nation Community Access Road Project Team has worked with Indigenous communities to produce reports for review and comment, including:

• ATRI Reports, including community-specific Draft Preliminary ATRI Existing Conditions Reports, community-specific ATRI: Draft IA Reports, and community-specific ATRI: Final IA Reports;
• Cultural Heritage Report;
• Stage 1 and Stage 2 Archaeological Assessment Reports;
• Record of Consultation and Engagement for Indigenous Communities (including Milestones #1, 2, 3, and 4 Progress Reports); and
• Draft EA / IS.

Indigenous communities have already been provided with the opportunity to review and comment on the documents named above, with the exceptions of the:

• Record of Consultation and Engagement (RoCE) for Indigenous Communities—made up of four Milestone Progress Reports and Section 11 of the Final EA / IS. The previous milestone reports for milestones #1, 2, and 3 have already been distributed for review and comment by Indigenous communities. Milestone #4 Progress Report is currently out for review with Indigenous communities in advance of the release of the Final RoCE for Indigenous Communities with the Final EA / IS;
• Stage 2 Archaeological Assessment Report—recently distributed to Indigenous communities for review and comment: and
• Community-specific ATRI: Final IA Reports—targeted for release in the spring of 2026.

In-person & virtual consultation activities

To date, our consultation efforts with Indigenous communities and tribal councils have included:

• Six in-person Public Information Centres, including dedicated hours for attendance of Indigenous community members;
• Over 40 in-person or virtual meetings with 13 communities and tribal councils, including 16 in-person or virtual meetings with Marten Falls First Nation;
• Two in-person Aboriginal and / or Treaty Rights and Interest forums;
• Two in-person Three-Road Project Gathering & Expo;
• Attendance at several conferences, including the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference and the Matawa First Nations Management gathering.
• Nineteen virtual webinars; and
• Ongoing outreach, including phone calls, emails, virtual meetings, and in-person meetings with communities and tribal councils.

In addition, a virtual Information Centre is planned to describe the process the Community Access Road has undertaken since the start of the EA / IS, summarize the feedback heard on the Draft EA / IS, and discuss next steps to be led by the regulators after Marten Falls First Nation’s submission of the Final EA / IS. Additional details to follow.