2021 Reports 1 and 2 of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to the Parliament of CanadaMuch work needed to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Canada
Ottawa, 22 April 2021—A report from Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development Jerry V. DeMarco concludes that though the federal government has laid some foundational blocks for implementing the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, much work remained to be done to improve national collaboration to support achieving Canada’s targets for sustainable development. The 2030 Agenda is a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and improve prosperity. Canada signed on to the 2030 Agenda in 2015, along with 192 other countries.
The audit found that Employment and Social Development Canada had not established an implementation plan to clearly define how federal departments and agencies would work together to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Federal departments and agencies were also lacking tools to coordinate their work, and publicly available data to track progress for vulnerable groups in Canada was limited. In its response to the audit, Employment and Social Development Canada highlighted that all departments and agencies are responsible for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and acknowledged its challenges and lack of authority to lead a national initiative of this nature.
The audit also looked at how departments were addressing 3 targets related to the 2030 Agenda goals that consider global challenges such as poverty and inequality. The national poverty reduction target led by Employment and Social Development Canada was a good example of how targets should be implemented. It showed collaboration with all levels of government, had clearly defined roles, and was supported by good data. The other 2 targets audited were missing some of these elements that could be helpful to understand the efforts required to achieve sustainable outcomes for Canadians. For example, on the women-in-leadership target, actions had been identified but they were not coordinated and no lead department was identified. In addition, data on vulnerable groups such as Indigenous people and visible minorities was largely not available.
“Although I have mentioned that there has been some progress toward implementing the sustainable development goals, today, in year 6 of 15, the federal government should have moved beyond working on the foundations of an important and ambitious program like this”, said Mr. DeMarco. “I believe that it is essential for the federal government to pick up the pace because much more work is needed to achieve sustainable outcomes for all Canadians by 2030.”
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The 2021 Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Report 1—Implementing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada website.
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