Sustainable Development Strategy 2007-09

Table of Contents

Introduction

Section 1. Agency Profile

Section 2. The Agency and Sustainable Development

Section 3. Commitments

Section 4. Management and Accountability Framework

Appendix A - Organizational Structure (September 2006)

Sustainable development means development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

It is a continually evolving concept based on the integration of social, economic and environmental concerns, and which may be achieved by, among other things,

(a) the integration of the environment and the economy;

(b) protecting the health of Canadians;

(c) protecting ecosystems;

(d) meeting international obligations;

(e) promoting equity;

(f) an integrated approach to planning and making decisions that takes into account the environmental and natural resource costs of different economic options and the economic costs of different environmental and natural resource options;

(g) preventing pollution; and

(h) respect for nature and the needs of future generations.

From: Auditor General Act (1995 amendments)

Introduction

Amendments made in 1995 to the Auditor General Act require most federal departments and agencies to table their sustainable development strategies in the House of Commons every three years.

The Agency was created on December12, 2003, and as a result, this is its first sustainable development strategy, which covers the period from 2007-09.

Sustainable development strategies prepared by federal departments and agencies are a key element in the Government of Canada's overarching approach. They provide a tool forthese organizations to systematically consider the implementation of sustainable development in their policies, programs, legislation and operations.

This report describes the context in which the Agency is, and will be, contributing to sustainable development and outlines anumber ofconcrete results-based commitments that the Agency is prepared to act upon over the next three years.

Section 1 of the strategy presents a high-level summary of the Agency profile (mandate and primary functions). Section 2 shows how the Agency contributes at different levels to sustainable development. Section 3 outlines the specific commitments the Agency will undertake to further contribute to sustainable development. Finally, Section 4 highlights themain elements of the management infrastructure that will be put in place to support the implementation of the strategy and its performance reporting requirements.

1. Agency Profile

The Agency was created on December 12, 2003, and is part of the Treasury Board portfolio together with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the Canada School of Public Service and the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists. It is one of the strategic arms that help the Treasury Board exercise its oversight and leadership responsibilities in human resources (HR) management in the public service—Canada's largest employer.

The Agency's raison d'être is anchored in the necessity to rejuvenate, strengthen and modernize HR management in the public service—a sector where investments and changes have been limited for many years, leading to systemic challenges in various areas. In fostering continuing excellence in people management across the public service, the Agency's primary focus is on implementing and supporting a new HR management regime—one that enables managers and public service employees to deliver better results for Canadians. More specifically, its role is to provide the leadership and focus needed to promote, enable and ensure effective and results-driven people management across the public service.

The Agency's vision is to serve Canadians bystriving for a workforce and a workplace second to none. The Agency's overarching goal, or strategic outcome, is a modern professional public service dedicated to the public interest and supporting ministers in democratic governance, representative of the Canadian public and serving Canadians with excellence in the official language oftheir choice, with employees effectively and ethically led in a high-quality work environment respectful of their linguisticrights.

To achieve its mandate, the Agency brings together most of the HR management functions that the Treasury Board is responsible for, including the following: 

• values and ethics;
• implementation of the Public Service Modernization Act;
• HR planning, accountability and reporting to Parliament;
• management and modernization of the classification system;
• employment policy;
• corporate learning policy;
• management of all aspects of the executive group; and
• management of employment equity and official languages.

The Agency's programs cover the core public administration, which represents approximately 180,000 employees from 74 public service organizations. The program that supports the Official Languages Act, however, covers about 200 institutions, including some private organizations such as Air Canada and NAV CANADA, for a total of approximately 460,000employees.

Appendix A presents an organizational chart for the Agency.

2. The Agency and Sustainable Development

2.1 What is sustainable development?

In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development (better known as the Brundtland Commission) defined sustainable development as follows:

This definition has been widely adopted, including by the Canadian government. In other words, sustainable development challenges decision-makers to take:

• a broad view of social, economic and environmental outcomes;
• a long-term perspective (i.e., concerned with the interests and rights of future generations as well as the people of today); and
• an inclusive approach to action (e.g.,recognizing the need for all people to be involved in decisions that affect their lives).

These are also some of the key principles that govern sustainable development.

2.2 Components of the Agency's contribution to sustainable development

As illustrated in the following graph, the Agency contributes to sustainable development at three levels:

• human capital management;
• public service capacity building; and
• green operations.

2.2.1 Human capital management

Previously considered solely the responsibility of environmental specialists, sustainable development is gradually being recognized as a value that requires contributions from across all functions of an organization, including HR management.

Indeed, by striving for excellence in HR management, federal institutions contribute to leaving a better public service to the next generations than that which they inherited.

In particular, through effective HR management policies, programs and services, the Agency ensures that the public service remains an employer of choice that attracts, recruits, develops and retains the talents it needs to serve Canadians well today and tomorrow thereby making sure that the public service is sustainable in the long term. This is one of the reasons why Public Service Renewal is one of the Clerk of the Privy Council's priorities.

For illustration purposes, the diagram below shows the key elements of HR management excellence across the public service as defined in the People Component of the Treasury Board's Management Accountability Framework.

Sustainable development shines a new light on HR management and shows how, through a workforce and workplace second to none, the Agency, and all its partners, will contribute to leaving a better public service to the next generations than that which it inherited.

Details on specific commitments related to sustainable development and HR management arepresented in Section 3. It should be noted that this report does not present the Agency's plans and priorities in detail. Rather, the reader is invited toconsult the Agency's last Report on Plans and Priorities 2006-07, which was tabled to Parliament in October 2006, for more information.

2.2.2 Public service capacity building

This is the Agency's second level of contribution to sustainable development. It deals with how elements of sustainable development principles can be reflected in the Agency's policies, programs and services.

It is at this level that the Agency, as a central agency, can make specific commitments toward building capacities in support of sustainable development across the public service. These commitments are presented inmore detail in Section 3. 

2.2.3 Green operations

This is the third level of contribution for theAgency in the area of sustainable development. Every federal department and agency is expected to play a role incontributing to government-wide environmental priorities, including clean air, clean water, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the use of natural resources.

It is at this level that the Agency must make specific commitments toward greening its operations. These commitments are also presented in more detail in Section 3.

3. Commitments

This 2007-09 Sustainable Development Strategy was developed through participation in a range ofconsultative activities to discuss the application of sustainable development to human resource management in the public service and to develop collaborative initiatives. Activities included the following:

• participation in an interagency working group (consisting of the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Department of Finance Canada, the Public Service Commission and the Agency);
• interviews of the Agency's five vice-presidents;
• participation at both the working level and senior management levels in events led by Environment Canada to guide the fourth round of strategies; (the reference guide Coordinating the Fourth Round of Sustainable Development Strategies, which was developed in collaboration with departments and central agencies under the leadership of Environment Canada) and
• presentations to, and engagement with, the Interdepartmental Network on Sustainable Development Strategies and its working groups.

As a result of these consultations the Agency has established two goals for the next three years:

1) increase the capacity of the public service to promote sustainable development; and

2) demonstrate the Agency's commitment to sustainable development in its operations.

As this is the first strategy developed by the Agency, some of the objectives and targets are still exploratory, allowing for the development of more concrete actions and initiatives in future iterations of the strategy.

These objectives and targets are discussed below, and a logic model is subsequently presented in support of these commitments. The logic model includes the specific objectives underlying each goal as well as the associated targets, timelines and performance indicators.

Goal 1
Increase the capacity of the public service to promote sustainable development

This first goal contributes to building a public service that is aware of, and engaged in, the integration of sustainable development in its HR policies, programs and projects. To enable this, the Agency has identified the three objectives presented below.

The Agency provides leadership for furthering values-based management within the public service.

As such, by March 2008, the Agency is committed to examining how sustainable development principles can be included, where appropriate, invalues and ethics policy instruments that are currently being reviewed/developed, including the new code of conduct that will be developed as part ofthe Federal Accountability Act now before Parliament.

The Agency is committed to ensuring that the public service is a learning organization.

The new Policy on Learning, Training and Development is designed to help build a skilled, well-trained and professional workforce; to strengthen organizational leadership; and to adopt leading-edge management practices to encourage innovation and continuous improvements in performance. In particular, the Policy on Learning, Training and Development requires that existing managers validate their knowledge of the management of human resources, finances, procurement and information every five years. In addition, managers appointed to their level for the first time must successfully complete the training required to meet their employer's knowledge standards.

Increasing employees' sustainable development awareness and competence can build skills relevant to many situations (e.g., strategic environmental assessment, public consultation). However, public service managers are currently not formally trained on how to manage for sustainable development. Therefore, between 2007 and 2009, the Agency commits to the integration of sustainable development principles into the Standards on Knowledge for Required Training to be used by the Canada School of Public Service in the development of required training courses, and where appropriate, in the educationalcomponent of the leadership development programs.

The Agency, on behalf of the Clerk of the Privy Council, manages the public service awards for Canada, which include the Public Service Award of Excellence. This award is presented to public service employees who have demonstrated excellence in the achievement of results for Canadians that reflect the current values, ethics and priorities of the public service of Canada.

Currently, the awards program touches on facets of sustainable development in several award categories (e.g., employment equity and diversity; and management excellence, including developing initiatives with sustainable results).

However, the awards program does not recognize public servants' contributions to sustainable development as a single award item. As such, between 2007 and 2009, the Agency commits to create, as deemed feasible, a new single sustainable development category—or sustainable development could be added as specific criteria to the management excellence category.

Goal 2
Demonstrate the Agency's commitment to sustainable development in its operations

With about 525 employees, the Agency is asmall organization with few operations compared to many federal government departments.

Nonetheless, the Agency is committed to minimizing the environmental impact of its day-to-day operations, primarily as one of many tenants (Finance Canada, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Public Service Commission) co-located in the L'Esplanade Laurier (LEL) building in downtown Ottawa. The co-tenancy arrangements at this building present a unique opportunity for a collaborative approach to greening operations first at L'Esplanade Laurier and then at othersites.

The commitments for 2007-09 are the product of a collaborative effort through Finance Canada's Corporate Services Branch involving the Agency, the Treasury Board Secretariat and Finance Canada. The commitments also have the support of the Public Service Commission. This collective approach marks the beginning of a new approach to increasing the effectiveness of greening initiatives.

The objectives and targets under this goal also align with government-wide efforts such as the objectives established in Greening Government Operations, developed by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), and the guidance document, Coordinating the Fourth Round of Sustainable Development Strategies.

In collaboration with the Corporate Services Branch, the Agency has chosen these main areas of focus, supported by the following commitments:

Environmental Management System: Clear and effective government mechanisms are vital to support the integration of sustainable development in decision-making. The Agency will support the Corporate Services Branch and will work in co-operation with its co-tenants to implement an Environmental Management System. An Environmental Management System is a system for managing environmental issues and impacts in the conduct of departmental operations, focusing primarily on procurement, waste management, water and energy use, vehicle fleets and human resource development.

The Environmental Management System will provide a framework for practices and procedures, documentation, communication and evaluation of environmental performance, and will help improve access to environmental performance information and to improved internal accountability. The Environmental Management System will also support proactive environmental stewardship by providing an opportunity for the Agency to move beyond managing compliance and fixing problems to controlling and preventing environmental damage.

Environmental Stewardship: In 2004 aGreen Citizenship Network (GCN) was established, composed of employees from theAgency, the Treasury Board Secretariat, Finance Canada and the Public Service Commission housed in L'Esplanade Laurier. This interdepartmental network has been successful as a green think-tank and was instrumental in the development of environmental initiatives to green the workplace. The Network will work with similar networks in other departments to green government operations. The Agency commits to supporting the Corporate Services Branch in increasing membership in the GCN by 25 per cent and to providing members with more opportunities for grassroots involvement in workplace environmental initiatives.

Building Energy: The Agency can reduce its environmental impact by optimizing its energy use. This in turn reduces the production of greenhouse gases and reduces the demands on theelectrical grid, while demonstrating financial prudence. Through working in co-operation withco-tenants and with Public Works and Government Services Canada, the custodian, energy-saving changes can be made to the building and how employees work in it.

The Agency commits to taking action to reduce its use of building energy by developing and implementing an energy conservation plan. Thiswill involve an awareness campaign through which energy efficiency opportunities are explored with staff at the facility.

Vehicle Fleet: The Agency has a one-vehicle fleet. The Agency is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions per vehicle kilometer for its fleet by 15 per cent (based on fiscal year 2005-06 fleet performance) by purchasing ethanol blended gasoline, where available; by increasing employee participation in green and defensive driver training; and by adhering to the Treasury Board Secretariat's directive on fleet management for executive vehicles.

Green Procurement: As is the case for all departments and agencies, the Agency has the opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of its operations by purchasing environmentally responsible goods and services. Two key ways of making such procurement choices are to appropriately track purchases and to train procurement personnel.

The Agency will continue the green procurement training provided during the 2004-06 period. Specifically, the Corporate Services Branch commits to increasing procurement of environmentally responsible goods and services byproviding ongoing green procurement training of materiel managers and procurement staff (100 per cent by 2008), and acquisition cardholders (60 per cent by 2009). To complement this initiative, the Corporate Services Branch will complete the development of a common modification to the financial management system (SAP—Integrated Financial and Materiel System), working with Health Canada, the Department of Justice Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada, to enable procurement and financial staff in all three organizations to account for and track green procurement in all commodities.

With this improved support for green procurement, by 2009 the Corporate Services Branch commits to increasing the proportion of office furniture purchases that are green by 50 per cent—where and when new fit-up opportunities exist and where design configuration permits.

The Corporate Services Branch will also develop a pilot program (Multi-Function Document Manager Pilot Program) to reduce the need for many single-tasked machines such as a networked photocopier, printer, colour printer, scanner and fax machine and combine these entire functions into one centrally managed device. This will be supported by a printer reduction program to save toner cartridges, energy, and support costs, and through fit-up standards, awareness and incentive programs.

Waste Management: As a co-tenant at L'Esplanade Laurier, the Agency currently has a recycling program in place to divert paper-based items, metal cans, plastic and glass bottles, batteries and toner cartridges from the landfill. Diversion rates can be increased through a number of mechanisms including awareness, accessible bins and clear signage.

The Agency commits to supporting the Corporate Services Branch in improving the recycling program at L'Esplanade Laurier so that 75 per cent of waste is diverted by 2007, and to report on diversion progress against 2004 levels. In keeping with PWGSC's guidelines, the Corporate Services Branch will develop and implement a composting program (to divert such waste as paper towels and food waste) from the landfill. This work will also involve making better use of take-back programs to ensure proper disposal of toxic and hazardous waste.

4. Management and Accountability Framework

Accountability for carrying out sustainable development commitments is essential. For the Agency, each vice-president will be responsible for those commitments that fall within their areas of expertise and accountability within the core business lines.

At the same time, these specific accountabilities must be integrated and managed at the corporate level not only from a monitoring point of view, but also to share best practices and leverage synergies. In support of this, the Agency plans to:

1. Create a Sustainable Development Champion—The Agency will identify a sustainable development champion with responsibility for overseeing the development and implementation of the Agency's sustainable development strategy.

2. Establish a Sustainable Development Coordination Committee—This committee will meet three times per year (or as required) to assess progress, address issues and adjust plans. The committee will review green operations plans as well as the capacity-building commitments made in this strategy. Composition of the Coordination Committee will consist of representatives of each branch involved in the development and implementation ofthe Agency's commitments.

Corporate Planning, Policy and Organization Development will report annually in the Agency's departmental performance report on progress made toward these sustainable development strategy commitments. Similarly, in the annual report on plans and priorities, the Agency will provide an update on plans to implement its sustainable development strategy commitments.

Logic Model for the Agency's Sustainable Development Strategy

Appendix A - Organizational Structure (September 2006)