HIGHLIGHTS

As a department committed to sustainable development, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) works to protect and conserve Canada’s aquatic resources, while supporting the development and use of these resources. The Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) is an important tool to help the Department deliver on its mandate and to ensure that DFO, like all federal departments and agencies, takes environmental, economic, and social considerations into account in its decision making.

Defining Sustainable Development

DFO uses the definition generally used in the Government of Canada: "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".

This document is a companion piece to the Department’s 2005 – 2010 Strategic Plan, Our Waters, Our Future. It provides a progress report on past sustainable development commitments, and outlines new initiatives for the current SDS 2007 – 2009 cycle. DFO’s SDS is a national strategy, balanced by practical examples of regional case studies from across Canada.

The DFO metholodogy for the SDS is based on the new federal approach, results of consultation, and lessons learned from previous SDSs. Built on a logic model framework, the Action Plan of the Strategy guides the work of the Department in terms of what it wants to achieve, what it will do, and how it will measure its results. The overall methodology was simplified, using an Action Plan structure that presents more descriptive and integrated goals, drawn from the Department’s corporate planning framework:

• Healthy and productive aquatic ecosystems – the sustainable development and integrated management of resources in or around Canada’s aquatic environment through oceans and fish habitat management, and the critical science activities that support these two programs. Included under this goal is the commitment to the Oceans Action Plan, Environmental Process Modernization Plan, implementing the Species at Risk Act (SARA), and addressing the threat of aquatic invasive species.
  
  
• Safe and accessible waterways –providing access to Canadian waterways and ensuring the overall safety and integrity of Canada’s marine infrastructure for the benefit of all Canadians. Included under this goal is the commitment to meeting the needs for aids to navigation and strengthening small craft harbour operations.
  
  
• Sustainable fisheries and aquaculture –ensuring an integrated fisheries and aquaculture program that is credible, science-based, affordable, effective, and that contributes to sustainable wealth for Canadians. Included under this goal is the commitment to implementing Fisheries Management Renewal, creating a new aquaculture governance regime, supporting Aboriginal communities, and the International Fisheries and Oceans Governance Strategy.
  
  
• Environmentally sustainable operations and management – implementing and maintaining sustainable operations, as well as corporate awareness of the importance of sustainable development and considerations in decision-making. Included under this goal is the commitment to managing the environmental impact of departmental operations and raising corporate awareness.

The SDS will continue to reflect the evolution of sustainable development as a concept, and will serve as a cornerstone for departmental innovation and leadership.