diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 18ccd8f8f0cbbba4a941741741d7883ca0830267..4114c62b8f1547afa08c55815abc52f5ee18ddf2 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,13 @@ variables:
   PIP_CACHE_DIR: "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.cache/pip"
   PACKAGES_DIR: "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/packages/"
   CI_PYTHON_PATH: "NOT_SET"
+  DEPLOY_ENVIRONMENT:
+    value: "staging"
+    options:
+      - "production"
+      - "staging"
+      - "canary"
+    description: "The deployment target. Set to 'staging' by default."
 
 # Pip's cache doesn't store the python packages
 # https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/reference/pip_install/#caching
@@ -81,7 +88,8 @@ half_fat_tests:
 
   script:
     - export PYTHONPATH="$CI_PYTHON_PATH"
-    - echo $PYTHONPATH
+    - echo $DEPLOYMENT_ENVIRONMENT
+#    - echo $PYTHONPATH
     - cd $CI_PROJECT_DIR/tests/unit/coordinator/
     - python3 -m coverage run -m unittest *
     - python -m coverage report
@@ -123,7 +131,8 @@ full_fat_tests:
   tags: ["ewas-production"]
   script:
 #    - export PYTHONPATH="$CI_PYTHON_PATH"
-    - echo $PYTHONPATH
+    - echo $DEPLOYMENT_ENVIRONMENT
+#    - echo $PYTHONPATH
     - echo "this is a manual job"
     - cd $CI_PROJECT_DIR/tests/integration/full/
     - ls