[1] Membership is at the Ministerial level and meetings typically occur at least annually to discuss national environmental priorities and determine work to be implemented through the CCME organization.
The purpose of the Council is to "achieve positive environmental results, focusing on issues that are national in scope and that require collective attention by a number of governments.
"[2][3] Most work of the CCME involves interjurisdictional issues (e.g., climate change, air pollution, waste management, contaminants in water and soil).
The CCME develops Canada-wide Standards (CWS) to protect and reduce risk to the environment and human health where issues are most efficiently addressed with a common approach.
Purpose is to establish and provide direction to intergovernmental working groups tasked with addressing CCME priority issues, and to reach consensus on proposed policies, standards and guidelines.