Sustainable Development Strategies

The Auditor General Act was amended in December 1995 to help strengthen the federal government's performance in protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development. In addition to creating the position of Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, a number of federal departments and agencies were required to prepare and table a "sustainable development strategy" (SDS) in the House of Commons by December 1997.

Departments are required to update their strategies every three years. The third generation of strategies were tabled in the House of Commons in February 2004.

The Commissioner monitors the extent to which departments and agencies have met the objectives and implemented the action plans set out in their strategies. The results are presented in the Commissioner's Annual Reports to the House of Commons.

What is a sustainable development strategy?

In 1992, Canada and many other countries around the world who attended the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro committed to develop national strategies for sustainable development. Canada chose to make selected federal departments and agencies responsible for sustainable development within the sphere of their mandates.

The strategies are intended to ensure that departments and agencies take environmental, economic, and social considerations into account systematically in their decision making and to lead to changes in policies, programs, and operations that further sustainable development.

Requirements for departmental strategies are detailed in the federal government's publication entitled A Guide to Green Government, and the Commissioner's expectations.