Real estate transaction, construction or site remediation: our engineers, chemists and environmental specialists check whether your property is contaminated and help you stay compliant.
An environmental site assessment detects actual or potential contamination on a site by analyzing its current and past uses. It shows whether past activities may have affected the quality of the soil or groundwater.
This assessment is essential before a construction project, a real estate transaction or a change in the use of a property.
Carried out by environmental experts in collaboration with accredited laboratories, it ensures regulatory compliance and prevents long-term environmental risks.
Each phase is undertaken only if the previous one warrants it. Phases I and II generally follow CSA standards Z768 and Z769; a study required by law follows the Guide de caractérisation des terrains of the Ministère de l’Environnement.
Records review, site visit and interviews to identify potentially contaminating activities, past and present, on the property and around it. No sampling: Phase I concludes whether contamination is possible and whether a Phase II is needed.
Boreholes, test pits and observation wells targeting the areas at risk, followed by chemical analysis of the soil and groundwater by an accredited laboratory. The report confirms the presence or absence of contamination.
Additional characterization defines the extent of the contamination, its depth and the volumes of soil affected, in order to choose the remediation method and estimate its cost.
Monitoring of decontamination work, verification analyses, reports and final environmental certification in compliance with the regulations.
Some situations require one by law; others call for one out of caution or at a lender’s request.
Our team of specialists carries out projects of all sizes, with solutions that ensure compliance while keeping costs down for our clients.
The cost and duration depend on the phase, the size of the property, its history, the number of analyses and the laboratory turnaround time. The quote specifies them.
You describe the property, its use and the reason for the assessment: transaction, financing, construction, cessation of activities. We propose the appropriate phase and its price.
Our specialists review the available documents and visit the site to identify possible sources of contamination.
If a Phase II is required: boreholes, test pits or observation wells, and collection of soil and water samples according to a sampling plan.
The samples are analyzed by an accredited laboratory and the results compared with the applicable criteria.
A clear report with conclusions and recommendations: no action, further investigation or remediation.
New construction, change of use or site remediation: our team supports you with rigour.
A Phase I is historical and documentary research, with a site visit and no sampling: it tells you whether contamination is possible. A Phase II checks in the field, through sampling and laboratory analyses, whether the soil or groundwater is actually contaminated.
The law does not require one for every transaction, but most financial institutions require it to finance a commercial property. It also protects the buyer: contaminated land can be costly to remediate.
Since April 12, 2023, the Environment Quality Act no longer refers to an “authorized expert” (expert habilité). The study must be signed by a professional within the meaning of the Act, for example a member of a professional order, and comply with the ministry’s Guide de caractérisation des terrains.
It depends on the phase, the size of the property and the laboratory turnaround time. For example, our assessment of a sand pit in the MRC de Manicouagan, with boreholes and an evaluation of soil and water quality, ran from October 25 to November 19, 2025.
Tell us about your project: our engineers will get back to you with a clear estimate, whether for a geotechnical study, an environmental site assessment or materials testing.
