Reporting on Green Procurement

• SSC will further integrate environmental requirements in its decision-making processes and governance structures through a phased adoption of mandatory environmental considerations in procurement vehicles and enterprise procurement.
• SSC will further require globally recognized ecolabels in its procurement, such as the Green Electronic Council's flagship Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT).

Performance indicator: Percentage of SSC procurement vehicles that include environmental criteria that are established or renewed in the current year. Percentage of SSC enterprise procurement that includes environmental criteria signed in the current year.^{Footnote 1}

Starting point (baseline): Not available‌

Target: 10% for year 2021 to 2022^{Footnote 2}

• In 2022-23, 37.5% of SSC procurement vehicles that include environmental criteria

Support the Procurement of Goods and Services Greening Government goal by developing and integrating departmental practices that align with the Standard on Green Procurement.‌

Sustainable Development Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns‌

Departments will adopt clean technology and undertake clean technology demonstration projects‌

• SSC will maintain a minimum mandatory requirement for LEED Silver certification for all new and existing SSC enterprise data centres and will include a minimum mandatory requirement for LEED silver for all new major construction projects for existing enterprise data centres.

Performance indicator: Percentage of enterprise data centres with a minimum of LEED silver certification or equivalent.‌

Starting point (baseline): 75%‌

Target: 100%‌

• 100% of EDC's are LEED silver certified or equivalent or higher ‌

SSC supports innovative clean technologies that lower the environmental footprint of government operations.‌

Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all‌

Sustainable Development Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster‌

Departments will adopt clean technology and undertake clean technology demonstration projects‌

• SSC will decommission and replace aging, less efficient data centre infrastructure managed by SSC with more efficient enterprise data centres (Data Centre Consolidation). The Workload Migration Program will shrink the aggregate government-wide requirement on computer resources by leveraging modern facilities either in Government of Canada (GC) enterprise data centres or provided by public cloud service providers, enabling efficiencies.

Performance indicator: Number of legacy data centres closed‌

Starting point (baseline): As of December 31, 2020, SSC has closed 306 out of 720 legacy data centres.‌

Target: SSC will close at least 50 additional legacy data centres by the end of fiscal year 2021 to 2022.‌

• In 2022-23, SSC closed a total of 52 small and medium legacy data centres. Surpassing the target.
• 440 legacy data centres (out of 720) have been closed to-date - total of 61% closed.

Actions to consolidate and modernize data centres will improve data centre energy efficiency.‌

Sustainable Development Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation‌

Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts‌

Departments will adopt clean technology and undertake clean technology demonstration projects‌

• SSC will sponsor the development and adoption of technological innovation for a greener government.‌

Performance indicator: Number of SSC-funded Innovative Solutions Canada Challenges that are focused on the development of innovative green technologies. ‌

Starting point (baseline):1 as of March 31, 2021‌

Target: 2 SSC funded ISC challenges‌

• SSC continues to support 1 E-waste challenge.‌
• This E-Waste challenge is now in ISC Challenge Phase 2 stage (Develop Prototype).‌
• The E-waste challenge relates to the disposal of electronic waste (destruction and sustainable disposal of residual materials from electronic equipment and devices), it has no relation with computers being repurposed for schools.‌

Supporting Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC) challenges that are focused on lowering the environmental footprint of government operations while contributing to the success of clean-tech businesses in Canada.‌

Sustainable Development Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation‌

Support for green procurement will be strengthened, including guidance, tools and training for public service employees‌

• SSC will promote the Canada School of Public Service course C215 – Green Procurement to its procurement community.

Performance indicator: Percentage of SSC Procurement and Vendor Relations' Contracting Authorities who have completed the Canada School of Public Service Green Procurement course (C215), or equivalent.‌

Starting point (baseline): 60% (102/169) in 2019 to 2020‌

Target: 100%‌

• 64.71%‌
• As of June 2023, there were 204 Procurement Group (PG) employees working in the Enterprise Information Technology Procurement (EITP) Directorate. Of those, 132 PG's have successfully completed COR405 Green Procurement as of June 2023.‌

Ensuring decisions makers and specialists in procurement have the necessary training and awareness to support green procurement allows for environmentally responsible procurements.‌

Sustainable Development Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns‌

Actions Supporting the goal: Greening Government ‌

Other – Employee Commuting ‌

• SSC will enable telework across the federal government by providing increased Secure Remote Access (SRA) capacity, teleconferencing/videoconferencing capacity, and by rolling out Microsoft TEAMS. This can reduce employee commuting and resulting GHG emissions

Performance Indicator: Number and percentage of government employees that can connect to networks with Secure Remote Access (SRA), of those that require SRA connections.‌

Starting point (baseline): 283,622, representing 100% of required connections as of December 1, 2020^{Footnote 3}.‌

Target: 100% of SSC customers that require SRA connections will be able to connect at 2021 to 2022 year end.^{Footnote 4}

Performance Indicator: Percentage of Teams Users enabled across SSC's 43 core partners.‌

Starting Point (Baseline): 56% as of December 9, 2020.‌

Target: 90% at 2021 to 2022 year end.‌

• The number of GC employees^{Footnote 5} that can connect to networks with SRA is 440,977. This represents 100% of network users. ‌
• 100% of SSC partners have teams enabled (achieved in FY 2021-22). ‌

Enabling telework can reduce building space required, and GHG emissions from building construction, operation and employee commuting.‌

Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts‌

Actions supporting the Goal: Greening Government‌

Other - Improvements to real property operations‌

• SSC will reduce the footprint of SSC office spaces through modernization and consolidation.

Performance indicator: SSC office space (in square meters) per employee.‌

Starting point (baseline): 16.54m2 per employee as of December 2020‌

Target: 30% reduction by 2026‌

‌

• 10.7 m2
• SSC has achieved its target of a reduction of over 30% per employee.

Actions to reduce the footprint of SSC office spaces will save energy and reduce emissions.‌

Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all‌

Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts‌

Actions supporting the Goal: Greening Government ‌

Other- Engagement Creating sustainable workplaces, including through employee mobilization and action‌

• SSC will mobilize and engage its employees in environmental sustainability.

Performance Indicator: Number of times SSC annually engages SSC employees via communiques, contests, lock screen, etc. on separate environmental issues, announcements or initiatives.‌

Starting point (baseline): Not available‌

Target: 3 annually‌

• SSC has not yet completed tasks related to the metric measuring the number of times the department engages employees on separate environmental issues. However, SSC is prepared to implement these engagements in the future if there are instances where meaningful and warranted employee engagement is required.‌

Creating sustainable workplaces, including through employee mobilization and action.‌

Sustainable Development Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns‌

Sustainable Development Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development‌

Use 100% of clean electricity by 2025‌

Other.‌

• SSC will use clean electricity in the data centres it owns, including by working with Public Services and Procurement Canada to purchase renewable energy certificates to compensate for the high-carbon portion of the electricity grid

Performance Indicator: Percentage of primary source^{Footnote 6} electricity used in SSC-owned data centres locations.‌

Starting point (baseline): In 2019 to 2020, 90.81% of electricity used in SSC owned data centres was classified as clean.‌

Target: 90% by 2021 to 2022 year end and 100% by 2025 including through the purchase of renewable energy certificates.‌

• Both data-centres are located in Ontario, according to Canada Energy Regulator, approx. 92% of Ontario's electricity was produced from zero carbon sources.‌

The use of clean electricity reduces GHG emissions and encourages the provision of clean electricity.‌

Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts‌

Divert at least 75% (by weight) of non-hazardous operational waste from landfills by 2030‌

Other‌

• SSC will implement and promote the E-Signature initiative to reduce printing and paper waste. SSC will also provide guidance and support for other government departments to implement this initiative.

Performance indicator: Percentage of SSC forms that can be signed using e-signature.‌

Starting point (baseline): 90% (140/155)‌

Target: 95% (148/155)‌

• 94% of SSC forms can be signed using e-signature.‌

Reducing waste from landfills reduces landfill gas and emissions from transport/hauling. Reducing paper, pen and printing usage reduces emissions from the extraction and production of virgin materials.‌

Sustainable Development Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns‌

Divert at least 75% (by weight) of non-hazardous operational waste from landfills by 2030‌

Other‌

• Decommissioned SSC IT assets are:‌
  • reused, through the Computer for Schools (CFS) program or through GCSurplus sales, or
  • recycled via the Electronic Product Recycling Association (EPRA)

Performance Indicator: Percentage of SSC IT assets diverted from becoming waste through established mechanisms: selling, reusing or ethical recycling (EPRA).‌

Starting point (baseline): In 2019 to 2020, SSC disposed of approximately 20,513 or 100% of electronic assets through re-use, sale or recycling‌

Target: 75% sustainable disposals of our assets.‌

• 100% of the SSC IT equipment^{Footnote 7} (e.g. desktop assets) is divested to Computer for Schools;‌

SSC promotes circularity by providing avenues for the re-use and recycling of IT equipment at the end of its life cycle.‌

Sustainable Development Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns‌