Archived: Departmental Results Report 2018 to 2019, supplementary tables: Department of Environment, chapter 5

February 2000

In perpetuity

Water Quality and Ecosystems Partnerships and Community Eco-Action

Creation of an endowment fund for the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust (CBT), which is the cornerstone of the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The CBT will use the income from the endowment fund to support local research, education and training in the Biosphere Reserve region.

CBT funding transfer completed in 2000. No new planned/actual spending.

A financial audit is conducted annually, most recently in May 2019 (for the 2018 calendar year). No concerns were identified.

A Program Audit is completed every three years. A program audit was completed in September, 2018 by SPARC BC, with the preceding audit completed October 2015. Speaking to the overall assessment, SPARC BC found that CBT has demonstrated strong achievements in both the Objectives and Program Outcomes, noting that CBT has grown in every conceivable way - program areas, partnerships, and fund development- and has responded well to recommendations made in the 2015 Program Audit.

During 2018–19, CBT achieved the following objectives and deliverables:

• Provided $244,000 in grants for 84 local projects in the areas of: research and environment ($44,500); arts and culture ($25,000); community development ($25,000); and youth and education ($58,500). These projects leveraged $400K of in-kind support and more than $400,000 in additional cash contributions.
• Engaged 8,346 community members in CBT-funded projects.
• Published the 2018 Vital Signs report (PDF), a biennial indicator monitoring snapshot that aligns local data and stories with the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Established a $530K reserve fund to support the creation of a social purpose, mixed-use building to serve as a permanent Biosphere Centre for communities, organizations, and researchers.
• Developed, coordinated, and marketed education programs utilizing the West Coast NEST online hub in order to diversify the local tourism economy, broaden labour-force skills, and increase the number of youth employed in businesses.
• Collected more than 2,500 hours of audio recordings of the biophony (wildlife), anthrophony (human activity) and geophony (landscape) at the Sydney Inlet Remote Listening Station. Using this baseline data, the CBT developed and piloted acoustic ecology curriculum as a part of an environmental education program with local students.
• Together with Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, convened the West Coast Vancouver Island Coexistence Network with a mission to reduce or prevent human conflict with bears, cougars, wolves, and other species, and coordinated quarterly meetings.
• Delivered healing and reconciliation events and workshops with the goal to recognize shared history and cultural diversity to advance reconciliation within communities, between communities, and with the land.

February 2000

No end date set.

Clean Growth and Climate Change Mitigation

Between 2000 and March 2019, the Government of Canada endowed the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) with $50 million for grants and $62.5 million for endowment funds. ECCC provided $62.5 million to FCM, transfer went though early April 2018 (funds were meant to be received by the FCM at the end of March 2018) for endowment funding to administer a revolving fund for grants, loans and loan guarantees to encourage investment in municipal environmental projects.

The GMF was established to have a positive impact on the health and the quality of life of Canadians by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, improving local air, water and soil quality, and promoting renewable energy by supporting environmental studies and projects within the municipal sector. Eligible projects may fall into one or more of the following categories: energy, water, waste, sustainable transportation, brownfields, or integrated community projects.

The amount of GMF financing available to municipalities is directly related to the environmental benefits and/or innovation of the projects undertaken, with grant/loan combinations of up to 80% of eligible costs available for capital projects with exceptional environmental benefits.   

As stipulated in the GMF Funding Agreement between the FCM and the Government of Canada, the FCM has created two advisory bodies: the Green Municipal Fund Council (GMF Council) and the Peer Review Committee. The GMF Council’s role is to assist the FCM Board of Directors—the GMF decision-making body—in approving projects proposed by municipalities. The 15-member GMF Council includes five federal members: two from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), two from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and one from Infrastructure Canada (INFC). All ECCC federal members are appointed by the FCM Board of Directors based on recommendations from the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

Environment and Climate Change Canada peer reviewers provide the GMF and federal Council Members with expert environmental science and technology advice and evaluate funding proposals.

The GMF Funding Agreement requires an independent performance audit every five years. There was no audit of the GMF in 2018-19.

There was no evaluation of the GMF in 2018-19 and none has been planned for the future.

The 2018-19 GMF Annual Report reports that since the inception of the GMF in 2000, the FCM has committed to provide $862 million to support 1,310 environmental initiatives in communities across Canada.

Environmental impacts since the inception of the GMF:

• Reduced cumulative GHG emissions by 2.6 million tonnes;
• Saved 853,045 gigajoules per year;
• Treated 244,752,512 cubic metres of wastewater and drinking water per year;
• Saved 641,300 cubic matres of water per year;
• Diverted 173,596 tonnes of waster fro landfills per year;
• Managed 191,768 cubic metres of media (soil, groundwater, and sediment); and
• Reclaimed 94 hectares of land.