The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

In September 2015, Canada and 192 other UN member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 2030 Agenda is a 15-year global framework centred on an ambitious set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 169 targets and over 230 indicators. The 2030 Agenda envisions a secure world free of poverty and hunger, with full and productive employment, access to quality education and universal health coverage, the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and an end to environmental degradation.

The 2030 Agenda is a global framework of action for people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership. It integrates social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, as well as peace, governance and justice elements. It is universal in nature, meaning that developing and developed countries alike will implement the Agenda. Furthermore, the Agenda includes an overarching principle of ensuring that no one is left behind in the achievement of the SDGs.

Canada’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The Government of Canada embraces the universality of the 2030 Agenda and is committed to supporting the implementation of the SDGs in Canada and internationally. Working with its partners, Canada is striving to end poverty and inequality, build more prosperous and peaceful societies and protect the planet.

For Canada, an inclusive approach to domestic implementation of the SDGs will need to span a cross-section of Canadian society in order to truly “leave no one behind.” This is particularly applicable to those groups who are marginalized or otherwise vulnerable, which include Indigenous peoples, women and girls, immigrant and refugee populations, people with disabilities and individuals identifying with the LGBTQ2 community.

Many of the Government of Canada’s priorities and programs, both domestically and internationally, are already well aligned with the 2030 Agenda:

• Through its focus on the poorest and most vulnerable, including women and girls, Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy supports the main principle of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which is to ensure that no one is left behind in the achievement of the SDGs. New resources and tools for international assistance announced in Budget 2018 will help partner countries working toward achieving all of the SDGs.
• By prioritizing gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, Canada supports SDG 5 (gender equality), as well as the achievement of all other SDGs.
• Consistent with the Government of Canada’s commitment to advance the work of reconciliation, renewing Canada’s relationship with, and outcomes for, Indigenous peoples supports multiple SDGs, including SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 4 (quality education), SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) and SDG16 (peace, justice and strong institutions).
• By strengthening and growing the middle class, Canada supports SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities).
• Canada’s 2016 to 2019 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy, which sets out Canada’s sustainable development priorities, is linked to many SDGs, including SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 14 (life below water) and SDG 15 (life on land).
• Canada’s support for the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, investments in clean economic growth and investments in international climate finance all contribute to SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production) and SDG 13 (climate action).

Furthermore, in Budget 2018, the Government of Canada announced that it would provide $49.4 million over 13 years to establish an SDG unit and fund monitoring and reporting activities by Statistics Canada. This will enable better coordination among all levels of government, civil society organizations and the private sector on Canada’s efforts on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It will also support the monitoring and reporting of Canada’s domestic and international efforts to ensure that all of the SDGs are achieved by 2030 and that no one is left behind. The Government of Canada is also proposing to provide, from existing departmental resources, up to $59.8 million over 13 years for programming to support the implementation of the SDGs.

On July 17th, 2018, Canada presented its first Voluntary National Review report at the United Nations High Level Political Forum in New York, which highlights Canada’s progress and action plan to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at home and abroad.

Related links

Government of Canada

• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Address to the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly
• Canada’s Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Voluntary National Review
• Responses to questions asked during Canada's Voluntary National Review
• Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy
• Federal Sustainable Development Strategy

United Nations

• Sustainable Development Goals