Department and Agency Strategies

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• Background
• What is a sustainable development strategy?
• Departments and Agencies required to prepare sustainable development strategies

Background

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, the amendments imposed a new onus on a number of federal departments and agencies. They 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 of these reviews are presented in the Commissioner's Annual Reports to the House of Commons.

What is a sustainable development strategy?

It is an outline of a department's objectives and action plan for integrating sustainable development into its policies, programs and operations. These strategies are critical for advancing the federal government's sustainable development agenda, and for measuring progress against it.

Requirements for departmental strategies are detailed in the federal government's publication entitled A Guide to Green Government. This Guide indicates that each SDS should be:

• Comprehensive - Dealing with both departmental policies and programs, and management of the department's internal operations.
• Results-oriented - Identifying the main results the department will achieve and how it will measure performance in terms of sustainable development.
• Developed in consultation with the department's client partners and other stakeholders.

The former Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Brian Emmett, outlined his expectations for the second round of strategies in the 1999 document, Moving up the Learning Curve: the Second Generation of Sustainable Development Strategies.

Departments and Agencies Required to Prepare Sustainable Development Strategies

The following departments and agencies are required to prepare sustainable development strategies:

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

Canada Border Services Agency*

Canada Revenue Agency
(Canada Customs and Revenue Agency)

Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions

Canada Firearms Centre*

Canadian Heritage

Canadian International Development Agency

Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Environment Canada

Finance Canada, Department of

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Foreign Affairs Canada
(Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Department of)

Health Canada

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
(Human Resources Development Canada)

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada

Industry Canada

International Trade Canada
(Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Department of)

Justice Canada, Department of

National Defence

Natural Resources Canada

Parks Canada

Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada*

Public Works and Government Services Canada

Transport Canada

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Veterans Affairs Canada

Western Economic Diversification Canada

*These entities are required to table their first sustainable development strategies in 2006.

(The links allow you to access strategies located on departmental Web sites. These documents are not published by the Office of the Auditor General and are the responsibility of the respective departments.)

Other Sustainable Development Strategies

The following four organizations have voluntarily prepared strategies and tabled them in the House of Commons:

Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency

Correctional Service of Canada

Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Royal Canadian Mounted Police