2005 September Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Canadian Heritage

Commitment: Increase by 10 percent annually the percentage of "green" goods and services purchased

"Green" purchases as a proportion of total purchases

Not assessed

The Department's financial information system does not track green procurement, and the Department did not analyze its purchases to determine the proportion that was "green," as it had proposed to do. It is worth noting that the commitment—which reflects guidance provided by the Sustainable Development in Government Operations for the 2001 strategies—was challenging. And difficulties in measuring proportionate green procurement are systemic.

Number of employees who have received training on green procurement.

Proportion of employees aware of the Department's green procurement policies and practices

We were told that a number of procurement officers have had some training in green procurement, ranging from presentations and workshops to courses. However, little training was undertaken during the commitment period.

Overall, we found minimal evidence of meaningful action on awareness-building, though the Department has included references to sustainable development objectives in standard procurement training.