The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is committed to advancing the Government of Canada's priorities and goals on sustainable development and climate action.
Sustainable development strategies
Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy
In 2015, Canada and all United Nations Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (the 2030 agenda), a shared blueprint for partnership, peace and prosperity for all people and the planet, now and into the future. The 2030 agenda focuses on the commitment to leave no one behind. At the heart of this agenda lies the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aim to address today's social, economic and environmental challenges.
Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy sets out an approach to accelerate progress towards meeting the SDGs in Canada, and contribute to their achievement internationally. CFIA's contribution to the 2030 agenda is also described in its Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.
Federal Sustainable Development Strategy
The Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) is the government's plan and vision for a more sustainable Canada. It outlines goals and actions to promote clean growth, ensure healthy ecosystems and build safe, secure and sustainable communities. The FSDS presents the Government of Canada's sustainable development activities, as required by the Federal Sustainable Development Act (FSDA).
Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
Departmental Sustainable Development Strategies (DSDS) are strategies that describe the specific actions that departments and agencies will take to advance goals, targets, and/or implementation strategies of the FSDS. They also set out the performance indicators, starting points and targets that organizations will use to measure and report on results.
Previous strategies
The CFIA is required to report progress on DSDS through reports.
Progress reports
Strategic environmental and economic assessment (SEEA)
The Cabinet Directive on Strategic Environmental and Economic (SEEA) Assessment is an analytical tool which focuses on the potential environmental and economic considerations of key government decisions, with a special focus on climate change and biodiversity. It complements other key analytical tools, including Gender Based Analysis Plus and the Cabinet Directive on the Federal Approach to Modern Treaty Implementation, and supports the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS).
The objectives of the SEEA are to:
- enhance understanding and integration of expected environmental and economic effects of proposals
- minimize harms and maximize benefits for the environment and the economy
The CFIA is required, under the Cabinet Directive, to issue a public statement of environmental and economic effects for all proposals for which the agency has conducted detailed analysis.
Public statements will be linked from this page as they become available.
Climate change
Canada is experiencing the impacts of climate change, posing significant risks to human health, the natural environment and the economy. There is a need to better prepare Canadians to adapt and build resilience to climate change. The Federal Sustainable Development Strategy describes the Government of Canada's priorities, goals and targets for sustainability, and how federal organisations are implementing and achieving them.
Canada is tackling climate change on 2 fronts:
- mitigation: by reducing the emission of greenhouses gases, which contribute to climate change (for example, through the Greening Government Strategy)
- adaptation: by planning for and acting on the anticipated impacts of climate change
Adapting to climate change involves adjusting our decisions, activities and thinking because of observed or expected changes in climate. Adaptation will help reduce harm or take advantage of new opportunities.
Canada's first National Adaptation Strategy provides a roadmap for whole-of-society action on adaptation that will help prepare communities for the impacts of climate change. The strategy lays out a vision for a resilient society and identifies goals, objectives and targets in 5 key systems that affect the daily lives of Canadians:
- disaster resilience
- health and wellbeing
- nature and biodiversity
- infrastructure
- economy and workers
The Government of Canada Adaptation Action Plan outlines how the federal government is contributing to implementing the National Adaptation Strategy. It provides a framework to organize federal adaptation actions going forward. The Government of Canada is making targeted choices to help meet the strategy's goals and objectives, while respecting the federal government's role and authority for action.
An adaptation action plan for the CFIA is currently under development.