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Minister's Message

The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment

It is my pleasure to submit Environment Canada's 2010-2011 Report on Plans and Priorities. Environmental issues have become increasingly important to Canadians and to our economy. In the coming year, Environment Canada will introduce new policies, programs and legislation, which will have important implications for Canada's environment, as well as the economic recovery.

To achieve both environmental and economic benefits for Canadians, we will take major steps to address the challenge of climate change and clean air, at the domestic, continental, and international levels.

We will continue to invest in research and development in the areas of green technology as part of our broad-based actions to address climate change. At the same time, we will work with provincial and territorial governments and partners and the United States to harmonize on a continental scale the climate change policies, targets and goals that will support a dynamic and integrated economy. We will also remain a full and effective partner in giving life to the Copenhagen Accord, including honouring Canada's commitments.

The Department will also deliver other initiatives of national scope and importance. For example, major water quality agreements with our provincial and American partners, including the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, will be renewed. This will be part of our comprehensive approach to clean water through the Action Plan for Clean Water. We will also protect and conserve our biodiversity through collective action to build and expand our protected areas network in the North.

The risks of potentially harmful substances will be assessed and managed through the Chemicals Management Plan. This is a world-leading effort to assess chemicals and protect the health of Canadians and their environment. In addition, we will strengthen and modernize technology and keep abreast of the new developments to manage increasing demands for weather forecasting and other major program areas that are highly valued by Canadians.

In the coming year, we will work to develop and implement climate change strategies that are harmonized with those of the United States. We will align these policies, regulations and rules so that they support one another to minimize their regulatory burden as much as possible. We will also communicate these changes in a clear and understandable fashion so that individuals, corporations and governments can make informed decisions.

The 2010-2011 Report on Plans and Priorities outlines how we intend to move forward in these specific areas. Please take the time to read this report and learn more about the direction we are taking.

______________________________________
The Honourable Jim Prentice, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
Minister of the Environment


 

Section I - Departmental Overview

Raison d'être

Environment Canada is the federal lead department on a wide range of environmental issues facing Canadians. As a science-based department, Environment Canada addresses these issues through research, policy development, service delivery to Canadians, regulation and enforcement of environmental laws, and strategic partnerships. Programs are focused on conserving and restoring Canada's natural environment; equipping Canadians to make informed decisions on weather, water and climate conditions; and minimizing threats to Canadians and their environment from pollution. The Department's program focus reflects the increasingly evident interdependence between environmental sustainability and economic well-being.

A number of acts and regulations provide the Department with its mandate and allow it to carry out its programs. Under the Department of the Environment Act, the powers, duties and functions of the Minister of the Environment extend to and include matters relating to:

  • the preservation and enhancement of the quality of the natural environment, including water, air and soil quality;
  • renewable resources, including migratory birds and other non-domestic flora and fauna;
  • water;
  • meteorology;
  • the enforcement of any rules or regulations made by the International Joint Commission relating to boundary waters; and
  • the coordination of the policies and programs of the Government of Canada respecting the preservation and enhancement of the quality of the natural environment

Beyond the Department of the Environment Act, the Minister of the Environment has primary responsibility for 20 other acts, including the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999), the new Federal Sustainable Development Act, and several pieces of legislation relating to the protection of biodiversity and water. These include responsibility for the enforcement of environmental laws and regulations. The Department also has a demanding role under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, primarily as a department that provides information and analysis to others (a "federal authority"), but also as a department with decision-making responsibilities (a "responsible authority").

Environment Canada is also a key partner with other federal departments, where statutes such as the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, Canada Foundation for Sustainable Development Technology Act, and Marine Liability Act provide Environment Canada with secondary or shared responsibility for the successful execution of other federal departments mandates.[1]

Delivering Our Mandate

Environment Canada's role is multifaceted. The Department is a regulator, one of the largest in the federal government, with statutory and program responsibilities relating to biodiversity and environmental protection. This is a complex and challenging role, involving the integration of leading-edge research in many disciplines and proven best practices with the experience of stakeholders, as well as existing policy priorities and statutory authorities to. The objective is first, generate standards and guides for practices that will enhance Canada's natural capital and second, set out boundaries and barriers to activities that put Canada's environment at risk.

In discharging its regulatory responsibilities, Environment Canada also assumes an enforcement function necessary to ensure that companies and individuals comply with pollution prevention and wildlife acts and regulations. This effort, which includes compliance promotion, is undertaken in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments, national and international agencies and organizations, and addresses, for example, the use of toxic substances and their release to air, water or land. Wildlife enforcement officers enforce Canadian wildlife legislation which protects plant and animal species from human interventions, such as hunting or trade that could adversely affect long-term wildlife conservation.

The Department is also a service provider, producing accurate and timely weather forecasts that benefit the economy and individual Canadians alike, and implements programs in direct support of ecosystem sustainability and environmental protection. Environment Canada's Weather and Environmental Services monitors, produces, and delivers weather and environmental services and information to Canadians. Accurate and reliable meteorological and environmental information about the past, present or future states of the environment is essential to sound decision-making by Canadians. Access to information on weather, water, air quality and climate conditions also supports public security objectives and emergency and crisis management responses to high impact events such as tornadoes, floods and droughts.

Environment Canada is a science-based department and a leader in scientific innovation, including meteorology and many of the life sciences disciplines (please see Environment Canada's Science Plan). Environment Canada is heavily engaged, therefore, in developing and applying scientific approaches to understand naturally occurring environmental processes and their interactions. This knowledge enables the Department to evaluate and assess the effects of known and emerging stressors on the environment, thus supporting the design and evaluation of protection of biodiversity, policy options for pollution prevention, control, management and adaptation, and the delivery of state-of-the-art weather services.

Moreover, the Department increasingly pursues its work through effective partnerships. Inside the Government of Canada, Environment Canada's services, regulations and science combine with the work of other departments to address broad federal priorities such as emergency and pandemic preparedness, ecosystem and water resource management, management of contaminated sites, implementation of land claims, northern development and sovereignty, and energy security. The delivery of Environment Canada's mandate also gives rise to partnerships with provincial, territorial and Aboriginal governments, and non-governmental organizations. These partnerships directly support a wide range of shared objectives relating to protecting biodiversity, improving water quality, reducing pollution and enforcing various regulatory requirements.

With over 6,000 employees located in communities all across Canada, Environment Canada is open for business 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year from coast to coast and around the world. Every year the Department:
  • issues more than 1,500,000 public forecasts, 200,000 marine and sea state forecasts, 500,000 aviation forecasts, 10,000 severe weather warnings and 9,000 ice condition product;
  • manages the Air Quality Health Index, the first health protection tool of its kind in the world, which lets Canadians determine how much time they should spend outside or how they should adjust their activities under higher air pollution levels;
  • acquires and archives the data necessary to respond to 50 million telephone calls through our automated telephone answering device;
  • conducts approximately 10,000 inspections under Canada's environmental laws;
  • provides spill containment and clean-up advice to lead response agencies at an average of 1,000 significant incidents;
  • processes over 4,200 Notices annually for proposed imports, exports, and transits of hazardous wastes and hazardous recyclable materials (representing over 17,900 individual wastes/recyclable materials), issues approximately 2,200 import/export and transit permits and over 45,300 actual individual shipments of hazardous waste and hazardous recyclable material are tracked through the movement documents received;
  • assesses nearly 500 new substances, publishes approximately 70 draft risk assessment reports and 50 final assessment reports for existing substances, as well as publishes documents describing proposed approaches to managing risks from assessed substances, and where it is required proposes or finalizes control instruments for chemicals assessed under the Chemicals Management Plan;
  • manages the fourth largest extent of protected areas in Canada at 11.0 million hectares (ha), after Parks Canada Agency (31.1 million ha), British Columbia (13.2 million ha) and Quebec (13.2 million ha);
  • maintains over 200 partnerships with stakeholders across Canada to preserve and conserve the habitats of over 440 species listed under the Species at Risk Act; and
  • supports hundreds of community-led projects in all regions of the country to protect and restore the environment.

 

Strategic Outcomes and Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

In 2010-2011, Environment Canada is implementing updated Strategic Outcomes and a re-defined Program Activity Architecture (PAA) that will more clearly present programs and results.

The Strategic Outcomes capture at a high level the work Environment Canada undertakes in conserving Canada's natural environment; equipping Canadians to make informed decisions on changing weather, water and climate conditions; and minimizing threats from pollution. The PAA also now includes a Strategic Outcome for the Mackenzie Gas Project, transferred to Environment Canada from Industry Canada in 2009-2010.

The redefined PAA provides a more accurate and inclusive reflection of programs and costs. It provides the framework within which the Department determines the priorities, and allows the realignment of internal services to programs in compliance with the revised Profile of the Government of Canada's Internal Services. All internal services are now aligned according to the prescribed definitions of the Management, Resources and Results Structures (MRRS) policy.

Environment Canada is in the second year of its transition to a more effective Performance Measurement system, and the department has now developed a Performance Measurement Framework (PMF) for its Strategic Outcomes and the PAA for 2010-2011. The PMF contains expected program results, performance indicators and targets, where available, for all programs in the PAA. The PMF will enable the Department to supplement its existing approaches to performance reporting with quantitative measures of progress toward program objectives and its Strategic Outcomes. However, given the significant recent changes to both the PAA and the related performance measures, specific targets for some programs remain under development. In each of these cases, Environment Canada is working to report measured values for all indicators identified in the RPP in the 2010-11 Departmental Performance Report. Until targets are established, we will use available information from indicators associated with lower-level programs of the PAA to supplement those at the Strategic Outcome and Program Activity levels. This will enable reporting of a more appropriate and nuanced picture of overall performance than would be possible from the high-level indicators alone.

Environment Canada's approach to performance measurement is one of continuous improvement. The program indicators and targets are not static and will continue to evolve as the Department learns from its performance, adapts to new science and technology, and responds to changes in policy and government-wide direction. In particular, as baseline and additional data where needed become available for newly-measured indicators, the Department will establish specific target levels of expected performance. Measurement and reporting of the indicators will proceed concomitant with the presence of targets.

2010-2011 Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

Environment Canada's 2010-2011 Program Activity Architecture (PAA) is composed of four (4) Strategic Outcomes and eleven (11) Program Activities, including Internal Services.

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2009-2010 to 2010–2011 Program Activity Architecture (PAA) Crosswalk

The table below provides a crosswalk of 2010-2011 planned spending between Environment Canada's 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 Program Activity Architectures.

2009-2010 to 2010–2011 Program Activity Architecture (PAA) Crosswalk
Environment Canada's 2010-2011 Program Activities ($ millions)
   

Biodiversity - Wildlife and Habitat

Water Resources

Sustainable Ecosystems

Compliance Promotion and Enforcement - Wildlife

Weather and Environmental Services for Canadians

Weather and Environmental Services for Targeted Users

Substances and Waste Management

Climate Change and Clean Air

Compliance Promotion and Enforcement - Pollution

Mackenzie Gas Project *

Internal Services

Totals

Totals may differ between and within tables due to the rounding of figures.

Note:

* Environment Canada's 2009-2010 PAA was amended in June 2009 to reflect a better representation of the department's programs and results, as well as the transfer of responsibility for the Mackenzie Gas Project from Industry Canada and of Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Initiative to Finance Canada. The Department is currently working to secure funding renewal, which has not been confirmed at the time of production of the present Report on Plans and Priorities.

** Respendable revenue refers to revenue received through offering of products or services that can be "respent" or "used" to help offset the Department's voted operating funding requirements.

Environment Canada's 2009-2010 Program Activities ($ millions)

Biodiversity and Wildlife Program

105.0

 

4.3

5.8

             

115.1

Water Program

 

72.0

13.9

               

85.8

Ecosystems Initiatives Program

   

38.4

               

38.4

Environmental Science and Monitoring Program

 

36.4

   

72.2

2.1

         

110.7

Weather and Environmental Prediction Program

       

66.8

60.9

         

127.7

Chemicals Management Program

     

13.3

   

97.8

 

20.7

   

131.8

Legislation and Information Program

           

16.0

37.6

20.5

   

74.1

Clean Air Program

             

202.0

     

202.0

Mackenzie Gas Project *

                 

TBD

 

TBD

Internal Services

1.0

14.2

4.4

 

35.3

1.2

10.5

2.8

   

209.7

279.0

Sub-total

106.0

122.4

60.9

19.1

174.4

64.2

124.2

242.3

41.3

TBD

209.7

1,164.4

Deduct:

Respendable Revenue**

(1.5)

(18.6)

(0.4)

(0.0)

(4.5)

(40.8)

(2.3)

(1.8)

(0.1)

(0.0)

(0.0)

(70.1)

2010–2011 Total Planned Spending

104.5

103.8

60.4

19.1

169.9

23.4

121.9

240.4

41.2

0.0

209.7

1,094.3

Environment Canada's Operating Context and Priorities

Two of the defining characteristics of macro-environmental issues are their global reach and complexity and, as such, they:

  • have a multiplicity of implicated stakeholders;
  • are multi-jurisdictional in nature;
  • have both long-term implications as well as local and regional impacts; and
  • require multilateral cooperation if they are to be addressed meaningfully.

It is within the context of these characteristics that Environment Canada operates, with the most prominent issue being climate change. Over the course of the planning period, there will be an increasingly demanding international agenda to address this issue that will require Environment Canada's participation. Such participation will see Environment Canada continuing to play a multi-dimensional leadership role: as a negotiator of, and capable and effective partner in, multi-lateral efforts to deal with climate change; as a scientific authority, sharing knowledge of Canada's approach to its diverse environmental challenges and experiences; and as a stakeholder, sharing information on the current impact of climate change on Canada's environment, including its effects on Canada's arctic and many of Canada's Aboriginal, Inuit and northern communities.

Developing approaches to address climate change to serve the mutual interests of Canada and its partners from both environmental and economic perspectives will be a particular challenge, and one in which Environment Canada will be heavily involved. To this end, and to support a “whole of Government” approach to climate change, Environment Canada will be working closely with other federal departments on issues associated with climate change that concern energy security, the environment and the economy.

Addressing the global threats to biodiversity will also help shape Environment Canada's agenda. In 2010, with the International Year of Biodiversity and the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity, Environment Canada will be engaged on a number of dimensions, all of which require multijurisdictional cooperation to assure progress on addressing this increasingly critical issue.

Environment Canada will also be operating in a continental context. Addressing air pollution, for instance, will depend upon trans-boundary cooperation and harmonization of policies across jurisdictions. The federal government and the Administration in the United States have indicated their mutual interest in working on issues of bilateral concern, a development that will create both new opportunities and new demands for Environment Canada, given the importance of our countries' economic relationship and shared environmental challenges.

Recent years have witnessed growing expectations among Canadians for the federal government to provide and support environmental policy on several fronts. This pressure is expected to continue, with all signs pointing to increasing demands for leadership from Environment Canada on a wide range of initiatives. These demands will include responding to growing public interest in environmental and weather-related issues through increased outreach efforts on the part of Environment Canada to inform and educate Canadians about issues affecting the weather, the environment, ecosystems and species (e.g., Environment Canada provides comprehensive and free educational resources for educators, from primary school to post-secondary, to support actions and learning activities towards protecting our environment). It is also expected that Environment Canada will operate in a context of rapidly growing demand for more timely and user-specific weather prediction services.

In sum, Environment Canada will face a growing demand for action, working with multiple levels of jurisdiction, domestically, continentally and internationally. These demands will pose significant challenges in providing the necessary resources to respond effectively, to set and sequence priorities among initiatives, and to manage key relationships within and across national boundaries.

Over the planning period, the Department expects to deliver a wide range of services, programs and initiatives for Canadians. In particular, the Department will pursue three major priorities:

Operational Priority #1: Realize concrete progress on international, continental and domestic initiatives on climate change and clean air
Type: Ongoing Links to Strategic Outcome(s): SO 3
Plans for meeting the priority:
Domestically:
  • Continue the development of a Canadian regulatory framework for greenhouse gases and air pollution.

Continentally:
  • Continue engaging the United States to collaborate on the development of clean energy technologies to reduce greenhouse gases.
  • Work with provincial governments and other partners to develop and implement climate change strategies that are harmonized with those of the United States and an effective international protocol for the post-2012 period.
  • Continue cooperation with the United States to reduce transboundary air pollution.

Internationally:
  • Contribute to the achievement and implementation of a new global agreement on climate change and an effective international protocol for the post-2012 period.
Operational Priority #2: Enhance environmental protection through the implementation of key national initiatives
Type: Ongoing Links to Strategic Outcome(s): SO 1, 2 and 3
Plans for meeting the priority:
  • Deliver the Action Plan for Clean Water.
  • Implement the Government's Chemicals Management Plan.
  • Continue implementation of the Species at Risk Act (SARA).
  • Strengthen and modernize Environment Canada's weather and environmental services to ensure an improved national warning capacity.
  • Strengthen environmental enforcement through the implementation of the new Environmental Enforcement Act.
Management Priority: Foster capacity of enabling functions to support programs
Type: Ongoing Links to Strategic Outcome(s): SO 1, 2, 3 and 4
Plans for meeting the priority:
  • Continue to improve talent through increased recruitment activities, a strong focus on learning and development of employees, building a representative and diverse workforce and succession planning for key positions.
  • Improve integration of program, financial and human resource planning.
  • Improve financial information and reporting and departmental expenditure management.

Risk Analysis

In addition to the broader international and domestic challenges Environment Canada faces, the Department effectively manages a variety of risks relating to scientific research, program and service delivery and its corporate functions. These risks may ultimately affect the Department's ability to deliver on its priorities and achieve its Strategic Outcomes.

  • External Dependencies: As a science-based department responsible for contributing to the Government priority of tackling climate change and preserving the environment, Environment Canada establishes and maintains domestic, continental, and international relationships with other governments, scientific departments and partner organizations. Given the high degree of interactions with others, there is always the risk that there may be failures on the part of third parties or partners on which Environment Canada relies, or that the Department will be unable to create, sustain and effectively manage these relationships. In response, Environment Canada has adopted mitigation measures that include negotiation of partnership agreements with other government departments, and maintenance of alternative sources of data (redundancy) to replace a stream that may disappear if a partnership agreement fails.
  • Business Continuity: Environment Canada operates in a very complex regulatory and operational environment that includes the provision of Government of Canada mission-critical services through the operation of a 24/7 infrastructure that supports the Department's Weather and Environmental Services activities and operations. Rapid escalating costs, advances in technology, and hazards ranging from extreme weather to pandemics provide constant challenges to this service requirement. As such, there is always a risk that Environment Canada may be unable to continue to provide critical services in a timely, coordinated and effective manner. As a mitigation measure, the Department has a Business Continuity Plan, and intends to complete the certification and accreditation of mission-critical systems and a departmental crisis communication plan.
  • Resource Management: Given the challenging fiscal conditions facing advanced economies, a period of fiscal restraint is anticipated, which could put more pressure on the already complex task of making optimal allocations of the Department's finite resource envelope. The risk is that the flexibility Environment Canada's decision-makers have in managing the Department's resources may be reduced. This will require innovative, risk-based decision-making to optimize programming opportunities and maximize value for money. Current mitigation activities include enhancement of departmental integrated planning, and resource allocation and performance measurement capacity. The oversight role of the departmental Finance Committee and the development and implementation of periodic Management Variance Reports to enhance timeliness and availability of financial information will also reduce resource management risks.
  • Capital Assets Functionality: Given the very heavy demands put on them, there is a risk that the Department's capital assets, in particular the atmospheric and hydrologic monitoring infrastructure, weather radars, super-computer and fleet, may become unreliable or costly to maintain due to a lack of timely investment, and a related lack of accurate and timely information about the current status of Environment Canada's assets. As a mitigation strategy, Environment Canada has implemented an Integrated Investment Planning process across the Department to improve its ability to make the investment/prioritization decisions. Additionally, Environment Canada also submits all Treasury Board Submissions to rigorous reviews to ensure that proposals include all costs associated with putting new assets into service, ongoing operating costs, replacement costs, and decommissioning and disposal costs.
  • Information for Decision-Making: The ability of the organization to make informed decisions, adapt to change, respond to emergencies and ensure compliance with regulations is dependant on decision-makers receiving timely and accurate information. Environment Canada continues to develop and implement strategies and tools to improve the way it stores, accesses, searches and reports financial and non-financial information through activities ranging from significant investments in systems to useful innovations like the Management Variance Report (MVR). These efforts will increase the quality and availability of information that supports effective decision-making, which in turn will positively impact program development and delivery across the Department.
  • Human Resources Skills: Given retirements within the public service of Canada and the Department's need for specific knowledge- and science-based skill sets, Environment Canada will face recruiting challenges in the coming years. A significant portion of the Department's workforce has a science- or technology-based focus. This poses unique challenges for recruitment efforts given the demand for these skills across the economy and the current high level of employee mobility in the federal public service. To minimize this risk, Senior Executives have been identifying people management issues, and will continue to focus on improving talent through increased recruitment activities, a strong focus on learning and development of employees, building a representative and diverse workforce and succession planning for key positions.

Planning Summary

The following tables provide a summary of the planned financial and human resources for the next three years.

Financial Resources ($ millions)*
2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013
* All figures are net of respendable revenue and exclude services received without charge.
1,094.4 857.8 816.2
Human Resources (Full-Time Equivalents - FTEs)
2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013
6,973 6,198 5,913

The Department's planned spending is just over $1 billion and reflects recent funding increases, such as $27 million in ongoing support for the Enforcement Program. In addition, planned spending also includes programs with temporary funding in support of other government priorities such as the Chemicals Management Plan and the Clean Air Regulatory Agenda for which funding authority is received in multi-year blocks and which must undergo additional government scrutiny prior to further funding extensions. Currently these programs have funding authority that expires in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 respectively; this explains the majority of the significant decreases in both planned spending and full-time equivalents over those 2 years for the Department, and under Strategic Outcome 3--Threats to Canadians and their environment from pollution are minimized. Any funding extensions for those programs as approved by decision-makers would only be reflected in future RPPs.

The planned spending for all program activities also reflects other initiatives for which there may have been some funding with sunsetting provisions for the Department (e.g., Major Natural Resource Projects, Health of the Oceans initiatives, accelerated funding for the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan, and Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America). To the extent that such funding sunsets during the planning horizon, and are not therefore expected to be renewed or extended, year-over-year variances in planned spending will occur.

Environment Canada has also participated in an in-depth strategic review of the funding, relevance and performance of all its programs and spending to ensure results and value for money from programs that are a priority for Canadians. Results of its review have been submitted to decision-makers. Decisions from such reviews will be reflected in the Federal Budget and in future reporting to Parliament.

FTEs are extracted from the Department's Salary Management System.

 

Strategic Outcome 1: Canada's natural environment is conserved and restored for present and future generations
Performance Indicators: Targets:
Percentage of Canadian ecosystems where ecosystem health has been assessed as good To be determined.
A baseline value for this indicator will be reported in the 2010-2011 DPR
Program Activity [3] Forecast Spending 2009-2010 ($ millions) Planned Spending ($ millions) Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013
* Please note that these amounts reflect sunset funding, including the termination of temporary funding, for which the Department may receive program extensions subsequent to the tabling of this RPP.
Biodiversity - Wildlife and Habitat 112.1 106.0 106.7 104.9 Clean and Healthy Environment
Water Resources 125.4 122.4 114.1 108.2
Sustainable Ecosystems 64.2 60.9 58.5 49.3
Compliance Promotion and Enforcement - Wildlife 19.1 19.1 18.8 18.6
Sub-total 320.9 308.3 298.2 281.0
Deduct: Respendable Revenue (19.6) (20.5) (21.2) (20.3)
Total Planned Spending 301.3 287.8* 277.0* 260.7*


Strategic Outcome 2: Canadians are equipped to make informed decisions on changing weather, water and climate conditions
Performance Indicators: Targets:
Percentage of the population surveyed (adult Canadians) who indicate having received enough notice to properly react to a warning of an approaching winter storm always or most of the time 85% by 2012
Percentage of municipalities that account for the frequency and severity of weather and related atmospheric hazards in their emergency and/or disaster management plans 70% of Canadian municipalities by 2015
Program Activity [4] Forecast Spending 2009-2010 ($ millions) Planned Spending ($ millions) Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013
* Please note that these amounts reflect sunset funding, including the termination of temporary funding, for which the Department may receive program extensions subsequent to the tabling of this RPP.
Weather and Environmental Services for Canadians 176.5 174.4 160.3 158.9 Clean and Healthy Environment
Weather and Environmental Services for Targeted Users 70.7 64.2 63.7 62.3
Sub-total 247.2 236.8 224.0 221.2
Deduct: Respendable Revenue (47.7) (45.3) (43.9) (44.0)
Total Planned Spending 199.5 193.3* 180.1* 177.2*


Strategic Outcome 3: Threats to Canadians and their environment from pollution are minimized
Performance Indicators: Targets:
Canadian emissions of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide equivalents) in megatonnes Canada's national target is a 17% reduction from 2005 levels by 2020
Canadian ambient air quality (ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter) To be determined.
Targets will be determined with the finalization of the air pollutant regulatory approach
Percentage decrease of concentrations of selected substances in air, soil, sediment, water and/or biota from baseline data To be determined.
Baseline values for this indicator will be reported in the 2010-2011 DPR
Program Activity [5] Forecast Spending 2009-2010 ($ millions) Planned Spending ($ millions) Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013
* Please note that these amounts reflect sunset funding, including the termination of temporary funding, for which the Department may receive program extensions subsequent to the tabling of this RPP. The drop in planned spending is primarily due to reductions of temporarily funded programs such as the Chemicals Management Plan and the Clean Air Regulatory Agenda, which are scheduled to sunset in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 respectively. The sunsetting of these programs explains most of the planned spending decreases in resources and Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) over the next two years. These programs are subject to periodic approvals and any further investments to extend these programs will be considered through the appropriate decision-making processes.
Substances and Waste Management 121.2 124.2 72.5 71.2 Clean and Healthy Environment
Climate Change and Clean Air 180.2 242.0 92.1 76.0
Compliance Promotion and Enforcement - Pollution 43.6 41.5 40.9 39.6
Sub-total 345.0 407.7 205.5 186.9
Deduct: Respendable Revenue (4.6) (4.3) (3.5) (3.5)
Total Planned Spending 340.4 403.5* 201.9* 183.3*


Strategic Outcome 4: Canadians benefit from the responsible development of the Mackenzie gas resources
Performance Indicators: Targets:
Decision on whether to proceed with the project is consistent with the recommendations of the Joint Review Panel and the outcome of fiscal discussions with project proponents Subject to progress of discussions
Program Activity [6] Forecast Spending 2009-2010 ($ millions) Planned Spending ($ millions) Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013
*Funding announced through Canada's Economic Action Plan is reflected in the Forecast Spending 2009-2010 and the Department is currently working to secure funding renewal, which has not been confirmed at the time of production of the present RPP.
Mackenzie Gas Project 10.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 Strong Economic Growth
Sub-total 10.4 0.0 0.0 0.0
Deduct: Respendable Revenue (0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (0.0)
Total Planned Spending 10.4 0.0* 0.0* 0.0*


Internal Services (Program Activity)
Program Activity [7] Forecast Spending 2009-2010 ($ millions) Planned Spending ($ millions) Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013
* Please note that these amounts reflect sunset funding, including the termination of temporary funding, for which the Department may receive program extensions subsequent to the tabling of this RPP.
Internal Services 229.9 209.8 198.8 194.9 Clean and Healthy Environment
Sub-total 229.9 209.8 198.8 194.9
Deduct: Respendable Revenue (0.8) (0.0) (0.0) (0.0)
Total Planned Spending 229.1 209.8* 198.8* 194.9*

Internal Services reflect the full range of policy, communication, management and administration activities for the Department. These activities include costs related to that portion of real property, laboratories, systems and infrastructure assets that have not been attributed to specific programs. Please see Section II for further description of the Department's Internal Services.

Expenditure Profile

This chart reflects the allocation of Environment Canada's planned spending by Program Activity for 2010-2011 fiscal year. The Climate Change and Clean Air Program Activity makes up the largest portion of the funding including such programs as the Clean Air Regulatory Agenda, the National Vehicle Scrappage program and payments to Sustainable Development Technology Canada in support of the next generation of biofuels. Mackenzie Gas Project (Program Activity 4.1) is not showing in the graph below as the Department is currently working to secure funding renewal, which has not been confirmed at the time of production of the present RPP.

2010-2011 Planned Spending by Program Activity*

The detail of Environment Canada's planned spending for each Program Activity in fiscal year 2010-2011.

* All figures are net of respendable revenue and exclude services received without charge.

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Canada's Economic Action Plan Initiatives

Announced in Budget 2009, Canada's Economic Action Plan (CEAP) provided funding (including employee benefit plans) to Environment Canada for the following four (4) distinct initiatives over two fiscal years:

  • Modernizing Federal Laboratories ($13.7 million in total for 2009-2010 and 2010-2011): As part of the CEAP, the Modernizing Federal Laboratories initiative provided Environment Canada with funding over two years to address deferred maintenance at Environment Canada laboratories. Environment Canada's projects are in keeping with the objectives of the CEAP and are aimed at providing economic stimulus over the next two years in the construction, architectural and engineering sectors.
  • Accelerating Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan ($12.7 million in total for 2009-2010 and 2010-2011): The CEAP funding provides custodians of federal contaminated sites (including Environment Canada) with additional funding to accelerate assessment and remediation activities on federal contaminated sites. It also provided policy approval for a one-year extension to the program for which Environment Canada is co-lead.
  • Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators ($6.2 million; funding extended through fiscal year 2009-2010 only): The CEAP funding will allow Environment Canada to sustain the government's annual reporting on the environmental indicators, by supporting the production of the indicators for clean air, clean water and greenhouse gases, and by making improvements to the 2009 report and website. This work fulfills statutory obligations connected to several acts.
  • Promoting Energy Development in the North--Mackenzie Gas Project ($10.4 million; funding extended through fiscal year 2009-2010 only): CEAP funding will further enable Environment Canada to support its obligations related to the federal government's responsibilities in this project, and to complete science and environmental monitoring projects necessary to establish baseline data to support the Department's regulatory position.

The 2009-2010 forecast spending and 2010-2011 planned spending for these CEAP initiatives are highlighted in the Departmental Spending Trend graph below.

 

Departmental Spending Trend

The illustration of Environment Canada's spending trend between fiscal years 2006-2007 and 2012-2013.

* Please note that all figures are net of Vote Netted Revenue (VNR) and exclude Services provided without charge and Non-respendable revenue. Forecast Spending includes 2009-2010 Main Estimates plus 2009-2010 Supplementary Estimates A and B, anticipated C as well as collective agreement and carry forward from 2008-2009. Also reflected is the central agency freeze of $45.2M for Strategic Review.

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The Department has seen a steady increase in spending from 2006-2007 to 2008-2009 primarily due to:

  • Payment to the Nature Conservancy of Canada to secure ecologically sensitive lands;
  • The transfer in 2008-2009 of responsibility for the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Initiative (TWRI) and Harbourfront Corporation from the President of the Treasury Board of Canada;
  • Incremental funding to implement the Chemicals Management Plan;
  • Funding provided in Budget 2007 to the Action Plan for Clean Water to support the clean up of Lake Simcoe, Lake Winnipeg Basin and the Great Lakes sediment remediation project in areas of concern; to support the Canada Foundation for Sustainable Development Technology for delivery of the NextGen Biofuels Fund; and to support the implementation of the National Vehicle Scrappage program;
  • Funding provided in Budget 2008 to support high priority activities to implement the Clean Air Regulatory Agenda and to develop regulations on Renewable Fuel; and
  • Funding to support the work of its enforcement officers.

Planned spending over the period from 2008-2009 to 2012-2013 diminishes mainly because of the reductions related to the transfer of responsibility for the TWRI and Harbourfront Corporation to the Department of Finance in 2009-2010 as well as the scheduled sunset of targeted funding for:

  • Initiatives supporting the Clean Air Regulatory Agenda;
  • Initiatives supporting the Chemicals Management Plan;
  • Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan;
  • Initiatives supporting the Great Lakes Action Plan; and
  • Budget 2009 initiatives that do not extend beyond 2010-2011 such as the Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators and Promoting Energy Development in the North - Mackenzie Gas Project.

These sunsetting initiatives are part of the Government of Canada's long-term agenda for which supplementary funding will be considered over the next planning horizon. Resource requirements beyond those currently approved will be considered as part of the budget approval process.

Voted and Statutory Items

Voted and Statutory Items displayed in the Main Estimates ($ millions)
Vote # or Statutory Item (S) Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording 2009-10
Main Estimates
($ millions)
2010-11
Main Estimates
($ millions)
1 Operating expenditures 736.4 795.1
5 Capital expenditures 44.5 51.0
10 Grants and contributions 129.8 158.8
(S) Minister of the Environment -
Salary and motor car allowance
0.1 0.1
(S) Contributions to employee benefit plans 81.9 89.1
Total Department 992.7 1,094.1

Total increase from Main Estimates 2009-2010 to 2010-2011 of $101.4 million broken down as follows:

Net increase of $58.7 million in Operating expenditures (Vote 1)

The increase is made up of the following program increases totalling $77.1 million:

  • A $33.2 million increase in support of regulatory activities under the Clean Air Regulatory Agenda, which forms part of the Clean Air Agenda.
  • A $26.1 million increase in new funding for Collective Agreements.
  • A $6.6 million increase in funding requirement to undergo activities under the Chemicals Management Plan.
  • A $2.0 million increase in new funding to implement the U.S.-Canada Clean Energy Dialogue.
  • A $1.8 million increase in funding requirement to undergo activities under the Federal Contaminated Sites Accelerated Action Plan (Budget 2009).
  • A $1.7 million increase in new funding to support actions on the regulation in Canada of renewable fuels content in gasoline, diesel and home heating fuels.
  • A $1.7 million increase in funding requirement to act on water pollution issues in Canadian freshwater systems in the Great Lakes, Lake Simcoe and the Lake Winnipeg Basin.
  • A $1.1 million increase in new funding to support the modernization of federal laboratories (Budget 2009)
  • Increases totalling $2.9 million for smaller initiatives

These increases are offset by the following program decreases totalling $18.2 million:

  • A decrease of $5.7 million for the scheduled sunsetting of funding supporting the environmental restoration of key aquatic areas of concern identified under the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
  • A decrease of $5.4 million in funding requirement to undergo activities under the National Vehicle Scrappage Program in support of Canada's Clean Air Agenda.
  • A decrease of $2.1 million in funding requirement to carry out activities in support of initiatives associated with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
  • Decreases totalling $5.2 million for smaller initiatives.

Net increase of $6.5 million in Capital expenditures (Vote 5)

The increase is made up of the following program increases totalling $7.4 million

  • A $6.1 million increase to carry out activities under the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP)
  • A $1.1 million increase in support of regulatory activities under the Clean Air Regulatory Agenda, which forms part of the Clean Air Agenda.
  • A $150K increase to support actions on the regulation in Canada of renewable fuels content in gasoline, diesel and home heating fuels.

These increases are offset by the following program decreases totalling $855K:

  • A decrease of $565K for to the scheduled termination of activities related to public security initiatives – funding originally transferred from the Department of National Defence.
  • A decrease of $230K in funding requirement for the National Water Strategy Freshwater Initiative.
  • A decrease of $60K in funding requirement supporting the activities to establish, develop and operate federal protected areas in the Northwest Territories.

Net increase of $29.0 million in Grants and Contributions (Vote 10)

The increase is made up of the following program increases totalling $34.9 million:

  • A $25 million increase related to the deferred grant payment to the Canada Foundation for Sustainable Development Technology from 2009-2010 to 2010-2011.
  • A $6.1 million increase in funding requirement to undergo activities under the National Vehicle Scrappage Program in support of Canada's Clean Air Agenda.
  • A $1.8 million increase in new funding in support of regulatory activities under the Clean Air Regulatory Agenda, which forms part of the Clean Air Agenda.
  • A $1.0 million increase to support the Biosphere Reserves in Canada and the Canadian Biosphere Reserves Association.
  • Total increases of $1.1 million for smaller initiatives.

These increases are offset by the following program decreases totalling $6.0 million:

  • A decrease of $2.5 million mainly due to deferred initiatives to act on water pollution issues in Canadian freshwater systems in the Great Lakes, Lake Simcoe and the Lake Winnipeg Basin.
  • A decrease of $2.2 million for the scheduled sunsetting of funding supporting the environmental restoration of key aquatic areas of concern identified under the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
  • A decrease of $1.0 million for the scheduled sunsetting of funding supporting the implementation of the Invasive Alien Species Strategy for Canada.
  • Total decreases of $354K for smaller initiatives.

An increase of $7.2 million in Contributions to employee benefit plans (Statutory Item).