Sustainable Development

Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy

New Approach under the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) to link sustainable development with the Expenditure Management System (EMS)

In order to explicitly link the FSDS to the EMS, all departments and agencies (including NRCan) named in the annex of the Federal Sustainable Development Act (FSDA) or under Schedule 1 of the Financial Administration Act will use the existing federal core planning and reporting system to plan, monitor and report on their respective sustainable development activities. 

Under the EMS, the reporting on plans and tracking of progress on results occurs through two key documents:

  • The Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP);
  • The Departmental Performance Report (DPR).

The RPP reporting will contain objectives and plans that comply with, and contribute to, the FSDS.  Each year de
partments will report on the FSDS implementation strategies for which the department is solely or jointly responsible through DPR reporting.

Integrating SD into NRCan’s Reports on Plans and Priorities (RPP)

RPP 2011-2012

NRCan’s first Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy (DSDS) under this new approach is fully integrated into the Department’s RPP for 2011-2012. The DSDS will be found in the various sections of NRCan’s RPP 2011-2012 as follows.

RPP Section I – Departmental Overview

  • This section provides high-level information on the department, including its raison d’être and responsibilities, its strategic outcomes and Program Activity Architecture (PAA), a planning summary, and a risk analysis.
  • Integrated into this section is a high level statement about the Department’s contribution to the FSDS.
  • Furthermore, the Department’s PAA diagram has been tagged with theme icons to show the department’s contributions to applicable FSDS themes.
    Air Air
    Water Water         

     

    Nature Nature
    Greening Government Operations
    Greening
    Government Operations

     

RPP Section II – Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcomes.

  • This section provides information about the department’s program activities and how they will advance the strategic outcomes in the coming year.
  • In NRCan’s case, where information aligns with contributions to the FSDS, the text has been tagged with applicable FSDS theme icons.
  • A table is also included to identify the single FSDS Target for which NRCan is responsible (i.e., Target 7.3 – Sustainable Forest Management).

Section III – Supplementary Information

  • This section contains three main components: financial highlights, future-oriented financial statements and links to supplementary information tables.
  • The supplementary information tables include the Greening Government Operations table, which outlines the Departments plans in relation to the Targets under FSDS Theme IV.

Section IV – Other Items of Interest

  • This new section has been added to provide an opportunity for departments to include additional items of interest that are not contained in Sections I-III.  Departments required to produce a DSDS are required to include in this section an introduction to the electronic layer of reporting and a link to the remaining DSDS elements.

RPP Electronic Layer– DSDS Elements

  • Natural Resources Canada Sustainable Development Vision
  • Departmental Decision-making and Sustainable Development
    • Managing Sustainable Development
    • Strategic Environmental Assessment Planning Highlights and Commitments
  • Elaboration on departmental activities that contribute to the Goals and Targets under FSDS Themes I-III
  • Sustainable Development Initiatives Not Captured in the FSDS
  • Other Links are also provided

Reporting through NRCan’s Departmental Performance Reports (DPR)

DPR 2010-2011

The first-time identification of all NRCan activities contributing to the FSDS in RPP 2011-2012 included some relevant programs that sunset in the fiscal year 2010-2011.  An electronic layer of reporting has been developed for DPR 2010-2011 to allow reporting on those programs.