Report 4—Lessons Learned from Canada’s Record on Sustainable Development

Achieving sustainable development will require deep societal transformation. Over the past 30 years, Canada has set national targets and contributed to setting international targets through, for example, the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and commitments to international initiatives such as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. When Canada’s Federal Sustainable Development Act came into force in 2008, the country established itself as an international leader in providing a legislative base for advancing sustainable development.

Despite these actions and commitments, Canada has had difficulty making substantial improvements in its performance toward sustainable development. Drawing on past audits by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development and the Auditor General of Canada, and interviews with experts, in this report we identified that Canada could learn from its efforts to date on sustainable development by

• strengthening leadership at the national level to drive a more strategic and coordinated approach to sustainable development
• establishing an integrated approach to sustainable development planning that unifies policy direction and enhances implementation
• enhancing collaboration and inviting all actors to the decision-making table
• engaging with Indigenous governments and peoples and honouring Canada’s commitments to them
• ensuring reporting is consistent and that indicators to measure progress are appropriate
• taking a long‑term approach to protect future generations and ensures continuous progress

With decisive, concerted action, Canada can make significant progress on its sustainable development agenda and foster a sustainable future for generations to come.