2023 to 2027 Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC)

Cat. No.: IP51-9E-PDF
ISSN: 2817-5174

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Executive Summary

The 2022 to 2026 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) presents the government of Canada’s sustainable development goals and targets, as required by the Federal Sustainable Development Act.

The OPC is bound by the Act since it was amended in 2019 and is responsible for developing its own Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy (DSDS), and for reporting annually on progress made towards achieving its goals.

While the OPC is not a lead key contributing department or horizontal lead identified in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy or in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the office takes into account the Government of Canada’s commitment to achieve the four following goals in its strategic initiatives and activities:

• Advance reconciliation with indigenous peoples and take action on inequality;
• Improve access to affordable housing, clean air, transportation, parks, and green spaces, as well as cultural heritage in Canada;
• Reduce waste and transition to zero-emission vehicles;
• Take actions on climate change and its impacts.

The following DSDS sets out what the OPC has committed to do in support of the federal government’s sustainable development goals and therefore ensures that parliamentarians and Canadians can track the results being achieved.

Section 1: Introduction to the Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy

The 2022 to 2026 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) presents the Government of Canada’s sustainable development goals and targets, as required by the Federal Sustainable Development Act. This is the first FSDS to be framed using the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda and provides a balanced view of the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development.

In keeping with the purpose of the Act, to make decision-making related to sustainable development more transparent and accountable to Parliament, the OPC supports the goals laid out in the FSDS through the activities described in this Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy (DSDS).

Section 2: The OPC’s Sustainable Development Vision

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is an Agent of Parliament whose mission is to protect and promote the privacy rights of Canadians. It is proudly headquartered in a LEED Gold certified building in Gatineau, Quebec.

The office is committed to incorporating sustainability priorities and integrating environmental and sustainable development considerations into its works wherever possible, taking into consideration its mandate and size. Over the past years the OPC has implemented a number of foundational initiatives that support greener operations and minimize the OPC’s environmental footprint. These include:

• Supporting clean technologies (moving to a paperless office, printer reduction, electronic signatures);
• Utilizing green products and services by taking environmental considerations into account in its purchasing decisions;
• Implementing a hybrid workplace (combination of on-site and remote work);
• Promoting sustainable travel practices—including reducing business travel for meetings and training when other viable options such as e-learning and teleconferencing are available.

Over the coming years, the OPC will strive to do its part to contribute towards the Government of Canada’s sustainable development goals, in particular those related to, advancing reconciliation with indigenous peoples and take action on inequality; improving access to affordable housing, clean air, transportation, parks, and green spaces, as well as cultural heritage in Canada; reducing waste and transitioning to zero-emission vehicles; and taking action on climate change and its impacts.

Section 3: Listening to Canadians

As required by the Federal Sustainable Development Act, the OPC has taken into account comments on the draft 2022-2026 FSDS made during the public consultation held from March 11 to July 9, 2022.

During the public consultation, more than 700 comments were received from a broad range of stakeholders, including governments, Indigenous organizations, non-governmental organizations, academics, businesses, and individual Canadians in different age groups and of various backgrounds. The draft FSDS was also shared with the appropriate committee of each House of Parliament, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, and the Sustainable Development Advisory Council for their review and comment.

What We Heard

Across the submissions received, the OPC identified sustainable development priorities and issues that affect us. Theses priorities include the following:

• Reducing inequalities through continuous engagement with Indigenous communities – Canadians want to see the implementation of a target on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
• Green Procurement – Canadians want to see the Government of Canada implement net-zero procurement as a means incentivize companies’ voluntary engagement in the race to net zero.

What We Did

While the OPC is not a lead key contributing department or horizontal lead identified in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy or in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the office nonetheless takes into account the Government of Canada’s commitment to achieving these goals in its strategic initiatives and activities.

The OPC is committed to support a culture that embraces equity, diversity and inclusion, including Indigenous peoples, visible minorities, persons with disabilities, women and 2SLGBTQQIA+ peoples, in order to provide the highest quality of service to Canadians and to enable the full participation of its employees, clients and stakeholders in the delivery of its activities and its mandate. To help reduce inequalities, the OPC will continue to promote greater diversity, inclusion and accessibility by providing Indigenous cultural competency training and/or training on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to staff.

Furthermore, the OPC will continue to support green procurement and ensure that environmental considerations are taken into account in the procurement process for goods and services, including planning, acquisition, use/maintenance and disposal methods.

Please find more information on the FSDS public consultation and its results in the FSDS Consultation Report.

Section 4: OPC’s Commitments

FSDS Context: While the OPC is not a lead key contributing department or horizontal lead identified in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy or in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the office nonetheless takes into account the Government of Canada’s commitments and will strive to make a meaningful contribution towards advancing the reconciliation with indigenous peoples and take action on inequality. The OPC will do this by investing in training to increase awareness and understanding of issues related to First Nations, Inuit and Métis in Canada.

Target theme: Advancing reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit, and the Métis communities

Target: Between 2023 and 2026, and every year on an ongoing basis, develop and table annual progress reports on implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada)

Implementation strategy	Departmental action	Performance indicator Starting point Target	How the departmental action contributes to the FSDS goal and target
Implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.	Provide all managers with Indigenous cultural competency training. Program: Internal services	Performance Indicator: Percentage of managers who have completed Indigenous cultural competency training (internal or external). Starting point: In 2022-23, 6% of managers have completed training on Indigenous cultural competency (internal or external). Target: 90% by March 2027	Public servants are in a unique position to help build respectful relationships with Indigenous Peoples in Canada. This action encourages public service employees to increase their cultural competency skills and awareness of issues related to First Nations, Inuit and Métis in Canada, and their knowledge of the UN Declaration. This action contributes to the development of necessary cultural competency knowledge and skills to implement the UN Declaration.

FSDS Context: The OPC recognize the importance of contributing to the air quality improvement to ensure a healthy and productive environment for all fostering well-being and sustainability. To lower emissions from transportation, the office will encourage all employees to adopt a work arrangement.

Target theme: Air Quality  

Target: Increase the percentage of the population across Canada living in areas where air pollutant concentrations are less than or equal to the Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards from 60% in 2005 to 85% in 2030 (Minister of Environment and Climate Change; Minister of Health)

Implementation strategy	Departmental action	Performance indicator Starting point Target	How the departmental action contributes to the FSDS goal and target
Develop, administer and enforce measures addressing air pollution.	Ensure that all employees have a work arrangement in place. Program: Internal Services	Performance indicator: Percentage of employees who have a work arrangement in place. Starting point: 73% of employees have a work arrangement in place. Target: 85% by March 2024 (this target takes into account that a work arrangement may not be possible in all cases for instance, employees on extended leave, secondments, etc.)	Hybrid work models play an important role in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions. By encouraging employees to work from home part of the time, there’s a decrease in the need for daily commuting, leading to fewer cars on the road and lower emissions from transportation. This contributes to a greener and more sustainable air quality.

FSDS Context: The OPC will strive to make a meaningful contribution towards reducing waste by continuing to use, where appropriate, Public Services and Procurement Canada’s procurement instruments into which environmental performance considerations are already integrated. Furthermore, the OPC will continue to invest in training to raise awareness of environmental considerations in purchasing decisions among financial delegates and acquisition cardholders.

Target theme: Federal Leadership on Responsible Consumption 

Target: The Government of Canada’s procurement of goods and services will be net-zero emissions by 2050, to aid the transition to a net-zero, circular economy (All Ministers)

Implementation strategy	Departmental action	Performance indicator Starting point Target	How the departmental action contributes to the FSDS goal and target
Strengthen green procurement criteria	Ensure that employees with financial delegation of authority and acquisition cardholders are trained on green procurement (such as the Canada School of Public Service course on green procurement, or equivalent). Program: Internal Services	Performance Indicator: Percentage of employees with financial delegation of authority and acquisition cardholders that are trained on green procurement. Starting point: In 2022-23, 14% of eligible OPC employees completed training on green procurement. Target: 90% by March 2027	Green procurement incorporates environmental considerations into purchasing decisions and is expected to motivate suppliers to reduce the environmental impact of the goods and services they deliver, and their supply chains.

FSDS Context: While the responsibility for real property management, the implementation of energy consumption and waste diversion management programs at OPC facilities rests with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), the OPC will continue to support and amplify messaging from PSPC aimed at reaching net-zero carbon and climate-resilient operations.

Target theme: Federal Leadership on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions and Climate Resilience

Target: The Government of Canada will transition to net-zero carbon operations for facilities and conventional fleets by 2050 (All Ministers)

Section 5: Integrating Sustainable Development

The OPC 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.

Should an OPC initiative undergo a detailed SEA, a public statement on the results of the OPC’s assessments will be made public (see here). The purpose of the public statement is to demonstrate that the environmental effects, including the impacts on achieving the FSDS goals and targets, of the approved policy, plan or program have been considered during proposal development and decision-making.