Response to parliamentary committees and external audits: 2021-22 Departmental Results Report, Women and Gender Equality Canada

Response to parliamentary committees

There were no recommendations for Women and Gender Equality Canada.

Response to audits conducted by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (including audits conducted by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development)

Report 1—Implementing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals

Summary

This audit focused on whether the Government of Canada was implementing a national approach for achieving the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development had made progress toward achieving selected national targets that would result in more inclusive and sustainable outcomes for Canadians. Specifically, the audit included an examination of the actions in support of the goals of no poverty (Goal 1), gender equality (Goal 5), and decent work and economic growth (Goal 8) and selected associated targets.

This audit is important because the 2030 Agenda is a global commitment to a better future for all. Canada, along with other countries, agreed to implement the 2030 Agenda by adopting policies and implementing actions domestically in the pursuit of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which commit to leaving no one behind.

The Auditor General made two recommendations of relevance to Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE).  In 2021-22, WAGE supported ESDC in releasing Canada’s Federal Implementation Plan for the 2030 Agenda.  The Plan establishes departmental leads and contributing departments for each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, clarifies the roles and responsibilities of federal departments and agencies, commits to report progress to Canadians through the publication of an Annual Report, and highlights opportunities for public engagement. As part of this plan, WAGE worked with federal departments to ensure alignment of the Canadian Indicator Framework within the Federal Implementation Plan, with those in Canada’s Gender Results Framework.

WAGE’s response and corrective action

Recommendation 1.56 - Employment and Social Development Canada, in collaboration with the Privy Council Office, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the Department of Finance Canada, and Women and Gender Equality Canada, should implement tools and processes to improve policy coherence for sustainable development support other responsible federal departments and agencies to identify gaps, trade-offs, and synergies among federal policies and programs for sustainable development.

Departments’ Response: Agreed. Employment and Social Development Canada will continue to work with the central agencies and Women and Gender Equality Canada to promote and continue to improve the integration of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals into the existing Government of Canada planning, policy, and decision-making processes.

• Employment and Social Development Canada’s Sustainable Development Goals Unit will continue to work with WAGE to identify synergies and alignment between the Gender Results Framework and tools that support the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act and the core principle of the 2030 Agenda, of leaving no one behind.

However, although every effort will be made to collaborate and implement the actions presented above, it remains the sole prerogative of responsible departments and agencies to initiate changes to their processes and tools. Further, while policy coherence mechanisms can provide useful information regarding potential gaps, trade-offs, and synergies, the decisions linked to resource allocation or government priorities are subject to the current budget and Cabinet decision-making process and are the prerogative of Cabinet and elected officials.

Recommendation 1.89 - Employment and Social Development Canada, in collaboration with the Privy Council Office, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the Department of Finance Canada, Women and Gender Equality Canada, and other responsible federal departments and agencies, should identify federal leads for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and Canada’s targets. The federal leads should establish measurable interim and final targets where applicable establish long-term engagement and coordination with federal departments and agencies, other levels of government, and other stakeholders that contribute to Canada’s targets and the advancement of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development assess coherence of policies, actions, and resources for sustainable development track national progress on related goals, targets, and indicators to accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda, particularly in reaching the most vulnerable

Departments’ Response: Agreed. Employment and Social Development Canada remains committed to establishing an implementation plan. The department will lead, in collaboration with the Privy Council Office, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the Department of Finance Canada, Women and Gender Equality Canada, and all required federal departments and agencies, the development of a federal implementation plan that will seek to establish 1 or more lead departments or agencies for each Sustainable Development Goal. The plan will also seek to articulate the roles and responsibilities of lead departments or agencies to help support and encourage the advancement of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals, including

• identifying or refining targets and other performance indicators, as appropriate
• supporting effective and ongoing engagement and collaboration with stakeholders
• monitoring and reporting on the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals

The federal implementation plan is expected to be finalized in spring 2021.

However, Employment and Social Development Canada disagrees with the recommendation that federal Sustainable Development Goal leads should be responsible for assessing the coherence of policies, actions, and resources for sustainable development. The 2030 Agenda is a whole-of-society initiative, relying on all levels of government, academia, non-governmental organizations, Indigenous peoples, and all Canadians to take action to advance the goals. The federal government can neither compel nor assess how all facets of Canadian society contribute to the 2030 Agenda. Further, taking responsibility for all of sustainable development goes beyond the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its goals and is outside the authority and mandate of Employment and Social Development Canada and individual federal Sustainable Development Goal leads.

To improve the coherence of policies, actions, and resources to advance the 2030 Agenda, Employment and Social Development Canada will finalize the 2030 Agenda national strategy in winter 2021. The objective of the national strategy is to create an enabling environment to continue to mobilize a whole-of-society effort to advance the goals. Fostering policy coherence is one of the objectives identified in the national strategy, encouraging stakeholders to take coherent actions as necessary to advance the 2030 Agenda. At the federal government level, Employment and Social Development Canada has committed to working with the central agencies and Women and Gender Equality Canada to improve policy coherence by integrating the goals into the Government of Canada’s planning, policy, and decision-making processes.

Response to audits conducted by the Public Service Commission of Canada or the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages

There were no audits in 2021–22 requiring a response.