In the late fall of 2018, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (the Committee) undertook a study of the Greening Government Strategy—the federal government’s then less than one-year-old plan for reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from its operations. Between November 2018 and April 2019, the Committee held five meetings and heard from 27 witnesses, some of whom also provided written briefs.

This report of the Committee’s study examines the Greening Government Strategy’s commitments, which largely fit into five categories (real property, mobility and fleets, green procurement, adaptation to climate change, and oversight and performance measurement), and the federal government’s early successes and challenges in meeting those commitments.

The Committee determined that not all parts of the Greening Government Strategy had objectives that were specific and measurable and, in some cases, federal officials were bypassing green procurement requirements. The Committee believes more can be done to support Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises by showcasing their clean technology products and services through the greening efforts of federal operations.

The Committee makes 13 recommendations in this report, several of which address the above-mentioned challenges by proposing that:

• the Government of Canada include specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely objectives throughout the entire Greening Government Strategy, and add specific targets to the Strategy’s adaptation to climate change, oversight and performance measurement sections; and
• the Government of Canada provide additional opportunities to small and medium-sized enterprises in the clean technology sector to demonstrate their products.

In December 2019, the Greening Government Strategy will have existed for only two years. As of March 2018, the federal government had reduced its GHG emissions by 32% relative to 2005 levels and achieved a 4% improvement from fiscal year 2016 to 2017. Much remains to be done to reach the Strategy’s marquee target of an 80% reduction by 2050, relative to 2005 levels—particularly when it comes to the federal government’s real property portfolio, which accounts for almost 90% of its emissions—but this report provides numerous examples of the work that is underway.