Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy

From: Employment and Social Development Canada

Official title: Employment and Social Development Canada 2017 to 2018 Departmental Results Report

On this page

• 1. Context for the Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
• 2. Sustainable Development in Employment and Social Development Canada
• 3. Departmental performance by FSDS goal
• 4. Report on integrating sustainable development

1. Context for the Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy

The 2016–2019 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS):

• sets out the Government of Canada’s sustainable development priorities
• establishes goals and targets
• identifies actions to achieve them, as required by the Federal Sustainable Development Act (FSDA)

In keeping with the objectives of the Act to make environmental decision-making more transparent and accountable to Parliament, ESDC supports reporting on the implementation of the FSDS and its Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy, or equivalent document, through the activities described in this supplementary information table.

2. Sustainable Development in Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)

ESDC’s Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy (Departmental Strategy) for 2017 to 2020 describes the department’s actions in support of achieving “Low-Carbon Government” goal. This supplementary information table presents available results for the departmental actions pertinent to this goal – these actions and targets were not identified in the 2017 to 2018 Departmental Plan as ESDC’s Departmental Strategy was not finalized until fall 2017. Last year’s supplementary information table is posted on the ESDC’s website. This year, ESDC is also noting which UN Sustainable Development Goal target each departmental action contributes to achieving.

3. Departmental performance by FSDS goal

ESDC supports the FSDA and, more specifically, the goal and target of the 2016 to 2019 FSDS to lower carbon emissions in Canada. Despite ESDC’s extensive operational infrastructure, the Department is not involved in activities to improve the energy efficiency of buildings since all departmental facilities are owned and/or operated by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). In this context, the scope of ESDC initiatives contributing to making the Government’s operations low carbon focuses on fleet management issues, green procurement practices as well as information technology and management initiatives.

The following table provides performance information on departmental actions in support of the FSDS goal listed in section.

FSDS goal: GOAL #2: Low-Carbon Government – The Government of Canada leads by example by making its operations low-carbon

FSDS target(s): Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from federal government buildings and fleets by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030, with an aspiration to achieve it by 2025

Support for UN Sustainable Development Goal target*: Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production

FSDS contributing action(s): Modernize our fleet

Corresponding departmental action(s)	Starting point(s), target(s) and performance indicator(s) for departmental actions	Results achieved
Track Fuel consumption of the Department’s fleet.	Improve overall fuel consumption per vehicle, year to year, for the fleet.	ESDC reduced by 2.2% its overall fuel consumption per vehicle (from 142,010 litres in 2016 to 2017 to 138,939 litres in 2017 to 2018). The Department also improved by 2.2% its GHG emissions from fleet (from 0.319 ktCO2ei in 2016 to 2017 GHG to 0.312 in 2017 to 2018 ktCO2ei). Comment: GHG emissions from fleet in fiscal year 2005 to 2006 (base year) was: 1.44 ktCO2e
Purchase fuel-efficient and hybrid-electric vehicles.	Increase percentage of hybrid vehicles in fleet from 11.6% in 2013 to 2014 to 20% by 2020.	Current % of hybrids in fleet is 13.1% (14/107) Comment: During the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year, ESDC placed a contract (call-up) to order 7 additional hybrids but the manufacturer was unable to deliver the vehicles within their specified deadlines. Delivery of these vehicles would have raised the percentage of hybrids to over 16%.
Ensure justifications are present when buying SUVs, rather than the standard sedans.	Ensure all new SUV purchases are justified in annual fleet plan.	This target has been met – all new SUV purchases are justified in an annual fleet plan.
Promote behavior change – for example, anti-idling campaigns, car sharing initiatives, green driving habits, etc.	Update policy and issue guidance to users promoting behaviour change by December 2018.	Updated policy and guidance for employees to promote behaviours that reduce carbon emissions are on-track for release by Fall 2018, and ahead of the December 2018 targets.

FSDS contributing action(s): Support the transition to a low-carbon economy through green procurement

Support for UN Sustainable Development Goal target*: Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production
Corresponding departmental action(s)	Starting point(s), target(s) and performance indicator(s) for departmental actions	Results achieved†
Use PSPC tools with green measures (for example, furniture) in support of green procurement	Where green procurement tools are available, 80% of contracts for that commodity to use such tools.	88% of contracts for office furniture and 91% of contracts for security equipment used green procurement tools. (Combined percentage: 89%)
Ensure procurement specialists complete the Canada School of Public Service Green Procurement course within one year of commencement.	90% of procurement specialists to complete green procurement training within their first year at ESDC.	100% of procurement specialists completed green procurement training within their first year at ESDC.
Ensure new contracts for logistic services include measures to improve environmental performance (as a percentage of all new contracts for logistic services)	75% of new contracts for logistic services to include measures to improve environmental performance (as a percentage of all new contracts for logistic services).	50% of ESDC’s logistics contracts used a PSPC standing offer supplier which, as per PSPC’s Standing Offer index, was indicated as being a green contracting arrangement. However, upon further consultation with PSPC during the reporting phase, this arrangement was determined not to qualify as green. As a result, 0% of ESDC’s logistics contracts included measures to improve environmental performance. PSPC will correct the Standing Offer Index and ESDC will re-evaluate its approach to this target for the next year to improve its results and meet this target.
Improve existing approaches to sustainable workplace practices (in other words, printer ratios, paper usage and green meetings).	Reduction of paper usage from the baseline number established in 2016 to 2017.	In 2017 to 2018, the Department consumed 152,130,970 sheets of paper in comparison to the previous fiscal year (161,841,457), which amounts to a 6% decrease. Despite these positive results, the Department is continuing to explore opportunities to reduce paper consumption, including encouraging the use of mobile devices (laptops/tablets) instead of paper at meetings.
Select and operate IT and office equipment in a manner that reduces energy consumption and material usage.	This action is in progress.	ESDC’s implementation of this target is in progress: ESDC procures IT equipment that utilizes a smaller footprint along with a reduction of materials to manufacture the hardware. ESDC has a strategy to increase the current ratio of mobile to desktop devices from 25:75 to 30:70 in the coming five years. Increasing the use of mobile devices – such as laptops and tablets which use 60-80% less energy relative to desktops – will reduce overall energy consumption within the department.

 

FSDS contributing action(s): Understand climate change impacts and build resilience

Support for UN Sustainable Development Goal target*: Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production
Corresponding departmental action(s)	Starting point(s), target(s) and performance indicator(s) for departmental actions	Results achieved
Ensure procurement specialists and managers in procurement operations have green procurement in their performance agreements, to be applied to applicable procurements.	100% of all procurement specialists have a statement in their Performance Agreements that when buying “applicable products”, green is considered.	Achieved

Additional departmental sustainable development activities and initiatives related to GOAL #2: Low-Carbon Government – The Government of Canada leads by example by making its operations low-carbon

GOAL #2: Low-Carbon Government: Additional departmental activities and initiatives

Support for UN Sustainable Development Goal target*: Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production
Additional departmental activities and initiatives	Starting points, targets and performance indicators	Results achieved
Further reduction of the print devices ratio to employees.	The managed print services contract called for user to print device ratios to fall within the 10:1 to 15:1 range.	The current user-to-print device ratio is 11.8:1 which falls within the target range and exceed the TBS target of 8:1.
Reduction of the standard desktop operating device in favour of more mobile units.	The five year plan outlines a target ratio of 80% mobile devices by 2022 to 2023. The 2016 to 2017 baseline ratio was at 20.6%.	As of April 1, 2018, the ratio count was 34%.
Use of a single 34” monitor rather than providing everyone with 2 X 24” monitors.	The five year strategic plan outlined a willingness to move to 34” monitors instead of 2 X 24” models.	After completion of a cost analysis, it was determined that the costs far out-weighed the benefit of moving to 35” monitors and therefore it has been decided to place this on hold.
Use of imaging capacity to further reduce paper holdings.		In FY 2017 to 2018, the imaging project (Enterprise Wide Imaging) was closed. While the project did not increase the imaging capacity within the Department it did establish a digital repository, which will be leveraged by other projects to reduce incoming paper (ex. document upload).
Expansion of Video-Conferencing services and E-meetings.		Work on this initiative has been postponed due to impacts on network performance.
Increased awareness and education of staff of the cost of printing.		Awareness and education information is currently being developed to inform employees about printing costs and opportunities to reduce them.

4. Report on integrating sustainable development

During the 2017 to 2018 reporting cycle, Employment and Social Development Canada had – from an operational perspective – no policy, plan or program proposals that required a Strategic Environmental Assessment and no public statements to that effect were produced.

Budget 2018 announced the establishment of a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Unit, which will ensure greater policy coherence and coordination for the implementation of the Agenda 2030 SDGs across all dimensions – environmental, social and economic. The Unit serves as an umbrella, bringing together and building work already underway to advance the 2030 Agenda, including initiatives such as the FSDS, which focuses primarily on federal activities related to environmental sustainable development.

The SDG Unit, housed at ESDC, will work with other implicated departments, to coordinate, track, report and communicate on Canada’s progress towards all SDGs across all levels of government and civil society.