Environment and Sustainable Development

Since 1995, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada has had a specific environment and sustainable development mandate. It was established through amendments to the Auditor General Act that encourage stronger performance by the federal government in these important areas.

The amendments to the Auditor General Act created the position of Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. They added environmental effects to the considerations the Auditor General takes into account when determining what to report to the House of Commons. They require ministers to prepare sustainable development strategies and update them every three years. They also authorized the Auditor General to receive petitions on environmental and sustainable development matters, and required ministers to respond to them.

The Office implements its environment and sustainable development mandate in a variety of ways:

• We conduct performance audits that look at whether activities designed to respond to federal environment and sustainable development policies are being implemented effectively and are delivering results. We also monitor departmental progress on recommendations from past audits, and conduct follow-up audits of activities reported on previously.
• We manage the environmental petitions process, which ensures Canadians can get timely answers from federal ministers on specific environmental and sustainable development issues that involve federal jurisdiction. Petitions have prompted action by federal departments, including new environmental projects, follow-up on alleged violations, and changes to or clarifications of policies and practices.
• We monitor sustainable development strategies, which are key tools for government. We assess the quality of the strategies prepared and updated by designated departments and agencies, and monitor and report on departments’ and agencies’ progress in meeting selected commitments made in them. Under the Federal Sustainable Development Act, we will now monitor and report on the extent to which departments have contributed to meeting the targets and goals that will be set out in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy. The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development will also provide comments to the Minister of the Environment on whether the targets and goals in the draft Federal Sustainable Development Strategy can be assessed, and report to Parliament on the fairness of the information in the federal government’s progress report on the implementation of the strategy.