Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy 2017–2020
Table of Contents
Section 1: Context for the Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
The 2016–2019 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy presents the Government of Canada's sustainable development goals and targets, as required by the Federal Sustainable Development Act.
The Policy on Green Procurement supports the Government of Canada's effort to promote environmental stewardship. In keeping with the objectives of the policy, the Canada School of Public Service (the School) supports sustainable development by integrating environmental performance considerations into the procurement decision-making process.
The School is not bound by the Federal Sustainable Development Act and is not required to develop a Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy, however, it adheres to the principles of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and has developed this Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy on a voluntary basis.
Section 2: Sustainable Development at the Canada School of Public Service
Federal Sustainable Development Strategy Goal: Low-Carbon Government
In May 2016, the School introduced a flexible, easy-to-access online platform called GCcampus. This online platform has become the main portal to an increasingly rich and diverse collection of learning resources, including online courses, virtual classrooms, peer and social learning, videos, webcasts, job aids, workshops and other learning activities. All of these resources are available anytime and from anywhere, making learning more accessible to public service employees regardless of where they are located. The School is also planning to review its use of printed materials for training to see where opportunities may exist to use electronic formats for classroom learning. The School's Sustainable Development Strategy will be updated accordingly.
With an increased range of online learning opportunities that do not require travel, there has been an almost three-fold increase in public service employees taking online training across Canada since 2011 (from 44,832 in 2011–2012 to 129,651 in 2015–2016). This shift towards an online learning platform supports the low-carbon government goal by reducing requirements for employee travel to access learning opportunities.
With respect to facilities, the School is partnering with Public Services and Procurement Canada to develop and implement a long-term facilities plan for the School's operations. Under this plan, and where applicable, the School and Public Services and Procurement Canada will seek to reduce energy consumption and Greenhouse Gas emissions.
The School also continues to embed environmental considerations in its procurement activities in accordance with the Policy on Green Procurement, through measures such as releasing Requests for Proposals electronically.
Section 3: Commitments for the Canada School of Public Service
Low-Carbon Government: The Government of Canada leads by example by making its operations low carbon
Responsible Minister: All ministers
Read down the first column for the low-carbon government target from the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy, then to the right for the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy contributing action(s), corresponding departmental action(s), contribution by the departmental action to the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy goal, the starting point(s) where available and performance indicators for departmental actions, and the program(s) in which the departmental actions will occur. The last row of the table presents additional departmental sustainable development activities and initiatives in the first column, followed by the performance indicators for the activities and initiatives and the program(s) in which the activities or initiatives will occur.
Low-Carbon Government
Federal Sustainable Development Strategy target(s) |
Federal Sustainable Development Strategy Contributing Action(s) |
Corresponding
departmental action(s) |
Contribution by each
departmental action
to the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy goal
and target |
Starting point(s),
where available,
and performance
indicators for
departmental actions |
Program(s)
in which
the departmental
actions will occur |
| Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from federal government buildings and fleets by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030, with an aspiration to achieve this reduction by 2025. |
Improve the energy efficiency of our buildings/operations. |
Establish a modern and efficient workplace. |
The workplace will have a considerably smaller footprint and will include the latest environmental technologies. |
The School has voluntarily reduced its workplace footprint from 33,000 m2 to 29,000 m2 in the National Capital Region. The objective is to further reduce the School's footprint in the National Capital Region by up to 40% by 2025. |
All Programs |
| Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from federal government buildings and fleets by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030, with an aspiration to achieve this reduction by 2025. |
Support the transition to a low-carbon economy through green procurement. |
- Continue to take action to embed environmental considerations in accordance with the Policy on Green Procurement.
- Leverage common-use procurement instruments where available and feasible.
- Integrate environmental considerations into procurement management processes and controls.
- Increase awareness of the Policy on Green Procurement among managers.
|
These four contributing actions will ensure goods and services procured by the School support a low-carbon environment. |
- a) The number and percentage of procurement and/or materiel management specialists who have completed the Canada School of Public Service Green Procurement course (C215) or equivalent. In 2016–2017, all procurement staff had completed the course in question.
b) The number and percentage of managers and functional heads of procurement and materiel whose performance evaluation includes support and contribution toward green procurement. In 2016–2017, performance objectives and evaluations for all three functional managers and team leaders included these considerations.
- Use of existing procurement instruments available through Public Services and Procurement Canada that include environmental considerations. Informing managers of these instruments was standard practice at the School in 2016–2017.
- Electronic release of Request for Proposals and acceptance of bid submissions whenever practical; double-sided printing of all contracts. Double-sided printing of all contracts was standard practice at the School in 2016–2017.
- Communication to managers on policy requirements and roles and responsibilities. The School provides managers involved in the procurement process with information related to various policies and procedures, including the Policy on Green Procurement.
|
- Internal Services
- Internal Services
- Internal Services
- Internal Services
|
| Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from federal government buildings and fleets by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030, with an aspiration to achieve this reduction by 2025. |
Promote sustainable travel practices. |
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from business travel. |
The School's shift towards an online learning platform supports the low-carbon government goal by reducing the need for employee travel to access learning opportunities. |
Percentage of learners taking online courses as compared to total learners in a given fiscal year. In 2016–2017, 91.6% of learners were online, representing a cumulative increase of 28.2% during a four-year period since 2012–2013. |
Learning Services |
| Additional departmental sustainable development activities and initiatives |
| Improve print management services by procuring multi-function devices that will have a positive impact on energy and resource consumption. |
The number of users per printing device will increase from 5 to 18 by the time the print management solution is fully implemented in 2018–2019. |
Internal Services |
Section 4: Integrating Sustainable Development
The School now delivers public service-wide learning through GCcampus, an online platform offering a variety of learning activities that are accessible anytime, from anywhere. Increased online learning through GCcampus reduces the need for employee travel, resulting in a positive impact on the School's carbon footprint. The School will continue to maximize its use of GCcampus when making decisions on learning content and delivery methods, keeping learning accessible, convenient—and environmentally friendly.
The School will also continue to pursue green procurement and facilities. The School is implementing procurement planning to make best use of supply methods that include environmental considerations. The School is working collaboratively with Public Services and Procurement Canada to reduce the carbon footprint and energy consumption in School facilities.
The School will continue to ensure that its decision-making process includes consideration of Federal Sustainable Development Strategy goals and targets through the Strategic Environmental Assessment process. A Strategic Environmental Assessment for policy, plan or program proposals includes an analysis of the impacts of the given proposal on the environment, including on Federal Sustainable Development Strategy goals and targets. Statements on the results of the School's assessments will be made public when an initiative is announced. The purpose of a public statement is to demonstrate that the environmental effects, including the impacts on achieving the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy goals and targets, of the approved policy, plan or program have been considered during proposal development and decision making.
- Date modified:
