Thank you.

The reports I am presenting today all involve issues that are fundamental to achieving sustainability.

I'll begin with our audit of Canada's national adaptation strategy, which aims to coordinate climate change adaptation action across Canada.

We found weaknesses in the strategy's design and implementation. Key elements were missing, such as a prioritization of Canada's climate change risks. We also found that the adaptation action plan, which is central to a national strategy, was not comprehensive.

Additionally, two major components of the strategy—the Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Bilateral Action Plans, and the Indigenous Climate Leadership Agenda—were still being developed.

While the 2023 release of the strategy was an important first step, it came nearly 20 years after we first recommended the development of a strategy to adapt to Canada’s changing climate. Urgent action is still needed to deliver meaningful results for Canadians’ health, safety and livelihoods.

Turning to our audit of Environment and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Parks Canada, we examined how they identify and monitor critical habitat for species at risk. The loss and degradation of habitat is the primary threat for most species at risk.

While all three organizations used the best available information to identify critical habitats, they were often slow to gather the additional information needed to fully understand species' needs. In addition, we found that monitoring on federal land was limited, making it difficult to assess whether actions were delivering intended results.

This is the final audit in a series that focused on the implementation of the Species at Risk Act. Across all these audits, we observed delays and gaps in information that have hindered the protection and recovery of species at risk. To meet Canada’s 2022 biodiversity commitments, departments must improve data collection and monitoring to prevent further species loss.

Our next audit examined whether Fisheries and Oceans Canada effectively led the development of an integrated approach to managing marine resources in the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic oceans. We found that while the department collaborated with partners in five priority regions, the resulting plans were high-level and did not lead to concrete actions.

Progress on marine spatial planning, a newer and internationally recognized process adopted by the department in 2018 to coordinate when and where human activities should take place in the oceans, has also been limited. Nearly 30 years after integrated ocean planning became law, Canadians are still waiting for meaningful implementation. With worsening climate change and increasing pressures on marine resources, the department must step up its leadership.

My final report looks back on over 30 years of federal sustainable development actions and outlines six lessons to help Canada improve its performance and build a better future.

Implementing sustainable development is proving to be an immense challenge in Canada. Despite setting national and international targets, Canada has made the least improvement among all G7 nations in meeting the United Nations sustainable development goals.

The report calls for a more integrated approach to sustainable development that incorporates social, economic and environmental factors in decision making, policies and programs. Other lessons include stronger national leadership and deeper collaboration—especially with Indigenous governments and peoples.

This completes the summary of my four reports.

The Auditor General will now review the key findings of her reports.

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