Federal Sustainable Development Act and Health Canada

Health Canada supports the Government of Canada's commitment to sustainable development under the  Federal Sustainable Development Act (FSDA).

The FSDA, which came into force in June 2008, requires the Government of Canada to develop a Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) that makes environmental decision-making more transparent and accountable to Parliament. The FSDA also requires that federal government departments and agencies develop sustainable development strategies to support the FSDS.

Federal Sustainable Development Strategy

The  Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) is a whole-of-government approach to achieve environmental sustainability. The approach improves transparency and accountability on the government's progress on sustainable development by linking the sustainable development planning and reporting to the Government of Canada's Expenditure Management System. The FSDS also establishes measurement, monitoring and reporting in order to track and report on progress to Canadians.

The Government of Canada's FSDS has four themes:

1. Addressing Climate Change and Air Quality;
2. Maintaining Water Quality and Availability;
3. Protecting Nature; and
4. Shrinking the Environmental Footprint - Beginning with Government.

Health Canada is engaged in themes 1, 2 and 4, which are consistent with the Department's mandate.

Health Canada’s Sustainable Development Strategy

Federal departments and agencies, including Health Canada, are required under the FSDA to develop a departmental sustainable development strategy to comply with and contribute to the FSDS.

Health Canada's Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) consists of two parts:

1. The first part of the SDS includes Health Canada's Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP), which provides a brief description of the Department's contribution to the FSDS. It also hyperlinks to the Greening Government Operations supplementary tables. Health Canada's FSDS commitments are linked to the following three FSDS themes:
   • Theme I: Addressing Climate Change and Air Quality
   • Theme II: Maintaining Water Quality and Availability
   • Theme IV: Shrinking the Environmental Footprint - Beginning with Government
2. The second part of the SDS is entitled Planning for a Sustainable Future: Health Canada's Sustainable Development Strategy. This portion of the SDS provides a more detailed description of the departmental contribution to the FSDS regarding the implementation strategies identified in the FSDS. Progress on the SDS is reported through the Departmental Performance Report.

Related Resources

• Health Canada Resources
  • Sustainable Development
    • Questions and Answers on Sustainable Development
  • Planning for a Sustainable Future: Health Canada's Sustainable Development Strategy
  • Health Canada's Report on Plans and Priorities
  • Health Canada’s Departmental Performance Report
  • Health Policy Research - Reports and Publications
  
  
• Government of Canada Resources
  •  Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
  •  Federal Sustainable Development Strategy
  •  Federal Sustainable Development Act
  •  Policy Horizons Canada
  •  Public Works and Government Services Canada - Greening of Government
  •  Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency - Strategic Environmental Assessment
  
  
• International Resources
  •  International Institute for Sustainable Development
  •  Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
  •  World Health Organization - World Summit on Sustainable Development
  •  United Nations Division for Sustainable Development
  •  European Commission - Sustainable Development