Sustainable development at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

The Government of Canada committed to sustainable development under the Federal Sustainable Development Act (FSDA) passed in June 2008.

At the federal level, sustainable development is guided by the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS), the government’s main tool for sustainable development planning and reporting. Every 3 years, the FSDA requires each department to prepare a Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy (DSDS), which describes the department’s contributions to the FSDS.

The 2019–2022 FSDS (PDF, 8.19 MB) presents 13 goals, which align with international sustainability commitments. This includes environmentally focused Sustainable Development Goals from the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

IRCC contributes to FSDS Goal 2—Greening Government. This includes transitioning to low-carbon and greener operations.

IRCC is working to identify and implement new sustainable development activities such as

• disposing of waste in an environmentally sound and secure manner
• reducing the use of single-use plastics in government operations, events and meetings
• reducing and updating our fleet to include zero emission vehicles or hybrid vehicles
• decreasing the number of printers and the amount of paper used
• encouraging staff to change their habits in order to reduce their environmental impact

Each year, IRCC updates its DSDS goals through the annual Departmental Results Report – Supplementary Information Tables.

The Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals requires departments and agencies to conduct a strategic environmental assessment for policy plans or program proposals submitted to an individual minister or to Cabinet for approval. Departments must consider the impacts of their proposals on the achievement of FSDS goals and targets. Statements on the results of IRCC’s assessments are posted when an initiative has undergone a detailed strategic environmental assessment and significant environmental effects are determined.

Related resources

• IRCC 2023 to 2027 Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
• IRCC Departmental Results Reports
• Federal Sustainable Development Strategy for Canada
• Federal Sustainable Development Strategy 2019–2022 Report (PDF, 8.19 MB)
• Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals
• 2008 Federal Sustainable Development Act
• Greening Government
• Government of Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory
• Policy on Green Procurement