Greening Government Strategy: A Government of Canada Directive

The Government of Canada’s operations will be net-zero emissions by 2050 including:  

• government-owned and leased real property
• mobility: fleets, business travel and commuting
• procurement of goods and services
• national safety and security operations^{Footnote 3}

To implement net-zero in real property and fleet operations,^{Footnote 4} the Government of Canada will reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2^{Footnote 5} GHG emissions by 40% by 2025 and by at least 90% below 2005 levels by 2050. On this emissions reduction pathway, the government will aspire to reduce emissions by an additional 10% each 5 years starting in 2025.

Net-zero means reducing GHG emissions from operations to as close to zero as possible and then balancing out any remaining emissions with an equivalent amount of carbon removal.

New construction and major retrofits

Departments will ensure that all new buildings and major building retrofits prioritize low-carbon and climate resilience. Investment decisions will be based on total cost of ownership:

• all new federal buildings (including build-to-lease and public-private partnerships) will be net-zero carbon^{Footnote 6} unless a life-cycle cost-benefit analysis indicates net-zero-carbon-ready construction^{Footnote 7}
• all major building retrofits, including significant energy performance contracts, require a GHG reduction life-cycle cost analysis to determine the optimal GHG savings (the life-cycle cost approach will use a period of 40 years and a carbon shadow price^{Footnote 8} of $300 per tonne and be maintained at all project stages)
• all new federal buildings, infrastructure and major building retrofits, including significant energy performance contracts, require a climate change risk assessment that incorporates both current and future climate conditions in the analysis

Leased facilities

The government will reduce the carbon footprint of its leased office space and assess assets for climate change risk to achieve net-zero, climate-resilient leasing operations:

• Starting in 2030, 75% of domestic office new lease and lease renewal floor space must be in net-zero carbon, climate-resilient buildings. By 2023, PSPC will develop a zero-carbon, climate-resilient leasing portfolio plan to achieve this objective, including a program to work with landlords.
• In all new domestic office leases and lease renewals for space over 500 m², landlords must report building energy and water usage, GHG emissions and waste generated using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Starting in 2023, this information will be publicly disclosed at the building level for new leases in major urban centres.
• GHG emissions from the majority of office floor space leased will be reported by 2025.

Low-carbon operations

The government will manage its real property portfolios to minimize their GHG emissions. Departments will implement low-carbon real property operations, which include:

• using 100% clean electricity by 2022, where available, and by 2025, at the latest, by producing or purchasing renewable electricity^{Footnote 9}
• recommissioning large energy-intensive buildings on a regular cycle and/or implementing smart building technology
• incorporating all facilities in the RETScreen Clean Energy Management Software by 2025
• metering energy use by 2022 for government-owned buildings of no less than 1,000 square metres with significant energy consumption^{Footnote 10}
• Existing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC-R) systems using high global warming potential refrigerants, ozone depleting refrigerants and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) will be converted or replaced by 2030

Water

The government will reduce its water consumption and its load on municipal systems by:

• tracking and disclosing its potable water consumption from major facilities by 2022
• using best-in-class water-use practices in new construction and major renovations^{Footnote 11}
• designing all new Crown-owned buildings to effectively manage storm water

Low-carbon construction materials

The government will implement Buy Clean in its procurement by reducing the environmental impact of structural construction materials by:

• disclosing the amount of embodied carbon^{Footnote 12} in the structural materials of major construction projects, based on material carbon intensity or a life-cycle analysis
• reducing the embodied carbon of the structural materials of major construction projects by 30%, starting in 2025, using recycled and lower-carbon materials, material efficiency and performance-based design standards
• conducting whole building (or asset) life-cycle assessments by 2025 at the latest for major buildings and infrastructure projects

Projects will also minimize the use of harmful materials in construction and renovation, including using low volatile organic compound (VOC) materials in building interiors.

Waste

The government will take steps to reduce the environmental impact of waste by:

• diverting at least 75% by weight of non-hazardous operational waste from landfills by 2030^{Footnote 13}
• diverting at least 75% by weight of plastic waste from landfills by 2030
• diverting at least 90% by weight of all construction and demolition waste from landfills and striving to achieve 100% by 2030
• tracking and disclosing its waste diversion by 2022
• minimizing environmentally harmful and hazardous chemicals and materials used and disposed of in real property operations

Biodiversity and nature-based climate solutions

The government will manage its significant property holdings, where operational requirements permit, to retain and restore biodiversity, mitigate and adapt to climate change by:

• sequestering carbon through ecosystem restoration and improved management practices that increase carbon stored in forests, grasslands, soils, inland and coastal wetlands, and marine environments while maintaining ecological values
• maintaining and restoring wild or near-wild areas that conserve healthy populations of native species, including:
• identifying any potential federal Crown lands or waters that could contribute to the commitment to conserve and protect 25% of Canada’s land and oceans (working toward 30% by 2030) through low to no-cost designation or other effective conservation measures (OECMs)
• developing management approaches as required for federal sites to protect biodiversity and enable sites to be recognized as protected areas or OECMs

The government will also manage its operating practices where operational requirements permit to:

• minimize the ecosystem impacts of marine activities, such as reducing impacts from noise due to vessel operations
• maximize the use of natural infrastructure and other nature-based solutions to protect physical assets
• adopt low GHG-emitting ecosystem sensitive land use practices on areas of properties actively managed for operations
• implement climate-resilient groundskeeping using native species where possible and practices such as xeriscaping and porous landscapes
• eliminate the use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes on federal lands^{Footnote 23}

Mobility

• The Centre will encourage employees to use low-carbon forms of transportation to reduce emissions from employee commuting and will track these emissions by the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year.
• The government will facilitate opportunities for flexible work arrangements, such as remote work, by enabling remote computing telecommunications and by supporting information technology (IT) solutions.
• The government will promote and incentivize lower-carbon alternatives to work-related air travel. Departments will contribute to the Greening Government Fund (GGF) based on their air travel emissions.^{Footnote 14} The GGF aims to incentivize lower-carbon alternatives to government operations by providing project funding to federal government departments and agencies to reduce GHG emissions in their operations. 
• Emissions from other travel related to operations, such as major events hosted and ministerial travel, may be offset by departments.^{Footnote 15}
• Purchase of carbon offsets for events, conferences and travel may also be used as an eligible expense for grants and contribution program recipients.^{Footnote 16}

On-road fleet

• At least seventy-five per cent of new light-duty fleet^{Footnote 17} vehicle purchases will be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs)^{Footnote 18} or hybrids, with the objective that the government’s light-duty fleet comprises 100% ZEVs by 2030.^{Footnote 19} Priority is to be given to purchasing ZEVs.
• All new executive vehicle purchases will be ZEVs or hybrids. Priority is to be given to purchasing ZEVs.
• Fleet management will be optimized to achieve the targets, including by exploring options for commercial vehicles, assessing ZEV charging infrastructure needs and applying telematics to analyze vehicle usage data on vehicles scheduled to be replaced.

National safety and security fleet

On the pathway to net-zero, the Government of Canada is committed to reducing emissions from its national safety and security (NSS) fleet^{Footnote 20} while providing Canada with effective operational capability. The government’s NSS fleet will use more environmentally friendly technologies and low-carbon fuels when available, affordable and operationally feasible.

By 2023, NSS fleet departments will develop and regularly update Operational Fleet Decarbonization Plans that outline how they will reduce their emissions from operations in line with the overall 2050 target.

In addition, NSS departments will adopt best practices to improve efficiency and reduce emissions and environmental impacts in the areas of:

• fuel procurement, including low-carbon fuels^{Footnote 21}
• fleet procurement, including purchasing energy-efficient platforms^{Footnote 21}
• operational efficiency and net-zero research and innovation