Response to Parliamentary committees and external audits

This review focused on whether federal departments and agencies contributed to the goal of safe and healthy communities in the 2016–2019 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy. The review covered the period from 6 October 2017 to 26 February 2020.

It is reported that “Overall, the organizations that contribute to the goal of safe and healthy communities reported activities that largely supported the actions set out for this goal in the government’s Federal Sustainable Development Strategy. However, the organizations’ reporting was at times unclear or incomplete, making it difficult for parliamentarians and Canadians to gain a clear sense of overall progress against the goal. For example, no organization stated in its reporting how it intended to address 2 actions related to outdoor air quality. For other actions, organizations omitted to mention key aspects of what they aimed to achieve, such as a performance target, making it challenging or impossible for the reader to grasp the extent of progress made. Clear and complete reporting on progress is important to convey whether departments’ efforts are coming together to support the achievement of Canada’s sustainable development goals”.

NRCan agreed with the recommendation and the following corrective actions are planned:

Natural Resources Canada will continue to follow the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s and Environment and Climate Change Canada’s guidance to ensure that updates to its departmental sustainable development strategy address all relevant contributing actions of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) goals that fall within its mandate.

Departmental actions of NRCan’s 2020-23 Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy (DSDS) are aligned with the FSDS targets and goals they contribute to, as per Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s and Environment and Climate Change Canada’s guidelines, with clear performance information including an indicator, a starting point, and a target for each of its departmental actions.   

Once revised guidelines from Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s and Environment and Climate Change Canada are published, NRCan will ensure that all relevant contributing actions of the Federal Sustainable Development goals that fall within NRCan's mandate are referenced as per the new guidelines.

NRCan will ensure reporting accordingly in its 2020-23 DSDS starting with the DSDS update published through the supplementary information table of the 2021-22 Departmental Plan and through NRCan’s 2020-21 DSDS Report.

Target date for full implementation: November 2022, with tabling of NRCan’s 2021-22 DSDS Report.