Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s 2021–22 Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy Report

This report on progress supports the commitment in the Federal Sustainable Development Act to make environmental decision-making more transparent and accountable to Parliament. It also contributes to an integrated, whole‑of‑government view of activities supporting environmental sustainability.

The departmental information reported accounts for information included in the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy for 2020 to 2023.

This report also details the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s individual departmental actions that support the targets and/or goals of the 2019 to 2022 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS). For information on the Government of Canada’s overall progress on the targets of the FSDS, please see the FSDS Progress Report, which, per the requirements of the strengthened Federal Sustainable Development Act, is released at least once in each three-year period.

1. Introduction to the Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy

The 2019 to 2022 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) presents the Government of Canada’s sustainable development goals and targets, as required by the Federal Sustainable Development Act. In keeping with the purpose of the act, to provide the legal framework for developing and implementing a Federal Sustainable Development Strategy that will make sustainable development decision-making more transparent and accountable to Parliament, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat has developed this report to demonstrate progress in implementing its Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.

2. Sustainable development in the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s 2020 to 2023 Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy describes the department’s actions in support of achieving the Greening Government goal of the FSDS. This report presents available results for the departmental action pertinent to this goal. Previous years’ reports are posted on the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s website.

3. Departmental performance by FSDS goal

The following tables provide performance information on departmental actions in support of the FSDS goal listed in section 2.

Context: Greening Government

Greening Government goal: The Government of Canada will transition to net‑zero carbon and climate-resilient operations, while also reducing environmental impacts beyond carbon, including on waste, water and biodiversity.^{Footnote 1}

This goal reflects new commitments made in the 2020 update to the Greening Government Strategy, as well as reporting requirements under the Treasury Board Policy on Green Procurement.

TBS is supporting the Greening Government goal of the FSDS by:

developing new rules for procuring and managing assets and acquired services (for example, real property, vehicles and other goods, and related services), and supporting their implementation
providing leadership and support to departments and agencies through the Centre for Greening Government, which is responsible for updating the Greening Government Strategy and for coordinating its implementation
working toward achieving the other FSDS goals as part of TBS’s ongoing review of the proposals that come to the Treasury Board
leading by example by greening internal operations at TBS

TBS has made the following changes to its DSDS, which was tabled in October 2020, to reflect the updated Greening Government Strategy, which was released in November 2020:

updated the Greening Government goal to reflect the FSDS’s broader, more ambitious commitments
moved up the target date for achieving a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 2030 to 2025 for real property and conventional fleet
added the actions it is taking as part of implementing the Policy on Green Procurement

Greening Government: The Government of Canada will transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient and green operations

FSDS target(s)	FSDS contributing action(s)	Corresponding departmental action(s)	Starting point(s) Performance indicator(s) Target(s)	Results achieved	Contribution by each departmental result to the FSDS goal and United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target
Reduce GHG emissions from federal government facilities and fleets by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030 (with an aspiration to achieve this target by 2025) and 80% below 2005 levels by 2050 (with an aspiration to be carbon neutral)	Publicly disclose detailed environmental performance information on government operations—in particular, a complete inventory of federal greenhouse gas emissions and energy use—on the Greening Government website each year	Aggregate and publish environmental performance information on government operations on the Greening Government website each year, including an inventory of federal greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, as well as other environmental performance measures Provide annual updates on the overall reductions in GHG emissions from federal government facilities and fleets	Starting point 32.6% reduction in GHG emissions as of 2018–19 Target 40% reduction by 2025 Indicator Percentage reduction in Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions from federal facilities and fleets (excluding national safety and security) from base year 2005–06	According to preliminary data, as of August 2022, emissions from federal facilities and fleets were 1105 kt, representing a reduction of 690 kt, or 38.4% relative to 2005–06 levels.^{Footnote 2}	FSDS Promoting the switch to cleaner sources of energy will lead to reductions in GHGs SDG target 13.3 Improve education, awareness‑raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
By 2022, departments have developed measures to reduce climate change risks to assets, services and operations	Increase training and support on assessing climate change impacts, undertaking climate change risk assessments and developing adaptation actions to public service employees, and facilitate sharing of best practices and lessons learned	Undertake an assessment of potential climate impacts that may affect TBS operations and programs. Develop measures to reduce identified risks, where warranted	Starting point Work is underway to complete TBS’s climate risk assessment Target By 2020–21, complete a departmental climate risk assessment and, by 2022–23, develop measures to reduce identified risks, where warranted Indicators Completion of climate risk assessment for TBS, and development of measures to reduce climate change risks to TBS’s assets, services and operations, where warranted	TBS completed its first departmental climate risk assessment in 2020. TBS is taking action to address two of the highest‑ranking risks: the disruption of services the potential impacts of climate change on the fiscal framework TBS has addressed the first risk by significantly improving its telework capabilities. TBS will respond to the second risk by estimating costs for select federal programs to better understand the risks and impacts.	FSDS Understanding the likelihood and severity of climate change impacts and taking action to reduce identified risks contributes to more resilient services and operations SDG target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
Actions supporting the goal: Greening Government	Departments will adopt clean technology and undertake clean technology demonstration projects	Provide project funding to federal government departments and agencies to test or implement innovative approaches to reducing GHG emissions in their operations, through the Greening Government Fund	Starting point In 2019–20, the Greening Government Fund allocated $9.8 million over 4 years Target 100% of available funding is allocated to projects Indicators Percentage of available funding committed to projects	In 2021–22, the Greening Government Fund had $5.4 million of funding available, 100% of which was allocated to projects that invested in clean technology.	FSDS Supporting the use of innovative clean technologies will help reduce the environmental footprint of government operations while contributing to the success of clean-tech businesses in Canada. SDG 9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
	Departments will use environmental criteria to reduce the environmental impact and ensure best value in government procurement decisions	TBS officials were asked to consider green procurement as a primary purchasing mechanism when making purchasing decisions	Starting point As of 2019–20, all TBS officials were asked to consider green procurement as a primary purchasing mechanism when making purchasing decisions Performance indicator Percentage of procurement processes that consider green procurement in their contracting requests Target 100%	In 2021–22, 100% of TBS procurement processes continued to require users to consider green procurement when making purchasing decisions.	FSDS Green procurement incorporates environmental criteria into purchasing decisions. This is expected to motivate suppliers to reduce GHG emissions associated with their goods, services and supply chains. SDG target 12.7: Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities
	Support for green procurement will be strengthened, including guidance, tools and training for public service employees	Ensure all TBS procurement officers are trained in green procurement within the first year of being on the job.	Starting point As of 2019–20, all of the department’s procurement officers were trained in green procurement within the first year of being on the job. Performance indicator Percentage of procurement officers trained in green procurement within the first year of being on the job. Target 100%	In 2021–22, TBS continued to meet its target of having 100% of its procurement officers trained in green procurement within the first year of being on the job.	FSDS Green procurement incorporates environmental criteria into purchasing decisions. Procurement officers who are trained to apply such criteria can award contracts to suppliers with a reduced GHG footprint. This is expected to motivate suppliers to reduce GHG emissions associated with their goods, services and supply chains. SDG target 12.7: Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities

4. Report on integrating sustainable development

TBS will continue to ensure that its decision-making process includes consideration of FSDS goals and targets through its strategic environmental assessment (SEA) process. An SEA for a policy, plan or program proposal includes an analysis of the impacts of the given proposal on the environment, including on relevant FSDS goals and targets.

Public statements on the results of TBS’s assessments are made public when an initiative has undergone a detailed SEA. The purpose of the public statement is to demonstrate that the environmental effects of the approved policy, plan or program, including the impacts on achieving the FSDS goals and targets, have been considered during proposal development and decision-making.

In 2021–22, TBS completed an SEA for the Low-Carbon Fuel Procurement Program. The SEA determined that for Canada to achieve a net-zero carbon economy by 2050, it will need to use low-carbon aviation and marine fuels. The government is contributing to achieving this goal by committing to buy low-carbon fuels for its own aircraft and vessels. By doing this, the government will not only reduce its own emissions but will also support the development of the low-carbon fuel market in Canada. This will benefit the environment and the economy by stimulating the market demand for clean technology, creating jobs for Canadians and supporting the transition to a net-zero carbon economy.

TBS strives to integrate sustainable development into its internal decision-making and operations. To date, TBS has reduced its environmental impacts by doing the following:

Decreasing the environmental footprint of departmental operations: To divert non‑hazardous operational waste from landfills, a composting program was set up for TBS’s offices at 219 Laurier to complement the one already running at 90 Elgin. Since most employees were working remotely because of the COVID‑19 pandemic, there was insufficient waste to operate the program. Waste audits were conducted to establish baselines and will be conducted again as more employees start returning to both locations as TBS moves to a hybrid workplace. Targeted waste reduction efforts will be put in place based on the results of waste audits.
De-carbonizing part of TBS’s executive fleet: TBS has two executive fleet vehicles. Both are now hybrid electric.
Mobilizing its employees for further green actions: TBS encouraged its employees and their families to help celebrate Canadian Environment Week by taking part in a set of green challenges each day.

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Date modified:: 2022-09-29

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