Taking Action Together: Canada’s 2024 Annual Report on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals

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Ministers' foreword

Combatting inequalities, protecting the planet, and providing every person with the opportunities they need to prosper are some of the fundamental principles of sustainable development. These principles lie at the heart of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Simply put, the SDGs are a unifying force that can help us build a better, fairer future for every generation.

We are proud to lead the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at home and abroad. As we pass the halfway point of the 2030 Agenda, reporting on our whole-of-society and whole-of-government progress is more important than ever. To this end, we are pleased to present Taking Action Together: Canada's 2024 Annual Report on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The 2024 Annual Report showcases Canada's progress domestically and internationally toward implementing the 2030 Agenda and advancing the SDGs. It demonstrates Canada's accountability on this important global agenda and incorporates diverse perspectives from organizations and individuals such as provinces and territories, municipalities, Indigenous Peoples, youth, and civil society organizations.

As a country, we have made significant advancements since Canada's first Annual Report. In 2023, these efforts were recognized as the Government of Canada received an award from global SDG movement Catalyst 2030 for its commitment to ensuring SDG progress in Canada.

Here at home, our ongoing implementation of the Canada-wide early learning and child care system continues to ease financial strains on low-income families and individuals across Canada. Our recently announced National School Food Program will help ensure that more children have access to the nutritious meals they need to reach their full potential. This historic billion-dollar investment will expand existing school meal programs in partnership with provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners to reach up to 400 000 additional children across the country. Additionally, the SDG Funding Program supports community-level initiatives that help create new partnerships and implement innovative projects that drive progress on the SDGs.

On the international stage, we continue to improve the delivery of international assistance using an inclusive, feminist, and human rights-based approach. This involves integrating the principles of participation and inclusion, equality and non-discrimination, and transparency and accountability. As co-chair of the SDG Advocates Group, the Right Honourable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to collaborate with other countries, governments, Indigenous Peoples, the private sector, and civil society organizations, to accelerate progress and grow our ambition as we move toward 2030.

We would like to thank the countless people across the country who are working hard to turn the SDGs into a reality - your work is important and inspiring. This report cannot tell each of your stories, but it reflects your daily commitment towards advancing these important goals.

We would also like to encourage everyone to take a moment to reflect on how your actions and choices can contribute to a fairer, more sustainable future. We challenge you to seek out new opportunities for engagement and collaboration that will help Canada and the world now, and into the future.

Together, we will make a difference!

The Honourable Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development

The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development

Executive summary

Since the adoption of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, people across Canada have come together in the hopes of creating a better country and world. In 2023, this inspiring collaboration continued as climate change, rising living costs, and ongoing inequities made the need to advance the SDGs even more pressing.

This report highlights actions taken in 2023 by a variety of people and organizations working together to advance the SDGs in Canada and around the world, such as all orders of government, National Indigenous Organizations, civil society organizations, academia, businesses, and individuals. It also includes statistics to measure and quantify Canada's progress. The report focuses on the 5 SDGs being assessed this year at the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development:

• SDG 1 (No Poverty)
• SDG 2 (Zero Hunger)
• SDG 13 (Climate Action)
• SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions)
• SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals)

In 2023, Canadians, as people did globally, faced challenges related to the SDGs. Increased costs for housing and food had significant impacts, particularly for low-income families. The Government of Canada took historic action to increase the availability of affordable housing, as well as measures aimed at reducing the cost of groceries for Canadians. Other examples of federal actions include a top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit and the Affordable Housing and Groceries Act. At the local level, organizations provided meals for homeless people, built community pantries and gardens, and offered education on financial security.

Climate change was also top of mind, as people across the country were affected by extreme weather events. Businesses worked to reduce emissions and people helped each other adapt to climate change through projects like flood mapping and heat alert and response systems. Collaboration across the country resulted in the National Adaptation Strategy.

As Canadians work toward a more just and equitable country, the release of an Action Plan to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act was a transformational step. The ongoing development of Canada's Black Justice Strategy has also been essential. Civil society organizations provided legal support to people facing systemic barriers, and First Nations, Inuit, and Métis governments and organizations continued to advance self-determination and improve the socio-economic well-being of their communities, who face the ongoing impacts of colonization.

Internationally, guided by its feminist foreign policy and its subsidiary policies, Canada's trade, diplomacy, development, and advocacy responded to emerging crises and met the needs of people in vulnerable situations. For instance, Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy shaped efforts of Canadian and local partners abroad to address poverty, food insecurity, the adverse impacts of climate change, and gender inequalities. These partnerships have been key to furthering the 2030 Agenda in a fair and sustainable way.

Despite these important advancements, inequities persist. While Canada's poverty rate remains lower than before the pandemic and significantly lower than the 2015 baseline year for Canada's poverty reduction targets, certain groups, including Indigenous Peoples, racialized individuals, working-age singles, female-led sole-parent families, and persons with disabilities are still disproportionately impacted. Some communities in Canada, such as those in the North or rural and remote communities, are especially impacted by climate change. More work is required to fully dismantle discrimination and systemic barriers faced by racialized Canadians, Indigenous Peoples, women and 2SLGBTQI+ people, persons with disabilities, and others.

Internationally, the pandemic and concurrent crises have resulted in the loss of hard-fought development gains, particularly related to the eradication of poverty (SDG 1), food security and nutrition (SDG 2), and gender equality (SDG 5). As a result, inequalities between and within countries continue to widen. More needs to be done in Canada and around the world to achieve the central transformative promise of the 2030 Agenda: to leave no one behind.

No single individual or institution will be able to achieve these goals on their own. Partnerships are essential to progress, and this report shows how Canadians work together to achieve the SDGs. Highlights include collaboration between federal, provincial, territorial, and Indigenous governments and partners on early learning and child care; widespread consultation and engagement on the development of a National School Food Policy; and, improvements to collecting and analyzing disaggregated data to better understand inequities in Canada.

Areas for improvement include increasing awareness about the SDGs throughout Canada, including in rural areas; leveraging digital technology to accelerate SDG progress; and, listening to, and learning from, the local experiences of people across the country.

In challenging times, people in Canada step up and help each other. In 2023, governments, community organizations, local groups, businesses, and universities worked toward a country with no poverty, zero hunger, and justice for everyone. Canadians collaborated on climate action and joined their efforts to make a positive difference in the lives of people in their families, communities, country, and the world. As we approach 2030, Canada remains dedicated to implementing the 2030 Agenda in an inclusive, whole-of-society way to make sure no one is left behind.

Introduction

Sharing progress with Canadians

Canada committed to report annually to Canadians and the UN on actions it has taken to advance the SDGs, as well as on the challenges ahead. Canada presented Voluntary National Review (VNR) reports to the United Nations in 2018 and 2023, and Canada's first annual report, Taking Action Together: Canada's 2021 Annual Report on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, was published in 2022.^{Footnote 1}

The report is divided as follows: a methodology section; an overview of progress and actions taken in 2023 to advance the SDGs under review; a discussion about how Canada creates an enabling environment; and the statistical annex, which provides information on each of the 17 SDGs and a more in-depth analysis of the five SDGs under review (SDG 1, 2, 13, 16 and 17).

The actions of many stakeholders and partners working towards the SDGs are included, demonstrating that a whole-of-society approach is needed to make meaningful progress.

Methodology

In addition to activities in 2023 that helped to advance the five SDGs under review at the UN, this report examines progress based on the three cross-cutting objectives in Canada's Federal Implementation Plan:

• Leaving no one behind - this means advancing gender equality, empowering women and girls and advancing diversity and inclusion.
• Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples - this requires working in partnership to support Indigenous voices, traditional knowledge, and self-determination.
• Ensuring coherence within Canada's international efforts - this means aligning international and domestic efforts to help achieve the SDGs.

The report also outlines work to create an enabling environment that promotes conversation and participation, and encourage all Canadians to take action to achieve the SDGs.

Measuring progress with statistics

A statistical annex is found at the end of the report. It uses a selection of two indicators per SDG from the Global Indicator Framework and the Canadian Indicator Framework to provide an overview of progress for the 17 SDGs. The Global Indicator Framework was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2017 and provides an initial set of indicators to measure SDG progress. The Canadian Indicator Framework includes ambitions, targets, and indicators that are specific to Canada.

While the annex includes statistics based on selected indicators for all 17 SDGs, only statistics for the five SDGs under review are accompanied by a brief analysis.

This report focuses on progress achieved in 2023. Data are not collected for all indicators on an annual basis. In these cases, where data from 2023 are not available, data for the most recent available year are included.

Similarly, in some cases, programs, projects or events from late 2022 or early 2024 are included.

Engagement

The report includes feedback received during engagement and collaboration with whole-of-society stakeholders and partners.

An online questionnaire was open from December 8, 2023, to February 29, 2024, asking all orders of government, National Indigenous Organizations, civil society organizations, academia, businesses, and individuals to share their activities and work to advance the SDGs. The opportunity to provide input was promoted through information sessions, on social media, and at public events. More than 150 people, organizations and all orders of government provided information about how their work contributed to advance the SDGs and the obstacles they faced while doing so. Other engagement activities included targeted outreach with National Indigenous Organizations, provinces, territories, municipalities, youth, and civil society organizations.

Canada's progress to advance the SDGs under review at the 2024 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development

In 2023, Canada continued to make progress on many of the 17 SDGs. There were also some challenges.

Annex A provides a snapshot of these advancements and challenges through the lens of the Canadian Indicator Framework and the Global Indicator Framework.

This section discusses progress, challenges, and opportunities regarding the five SDGs under review at the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, where progress to achieve the SDGs is assessed at the global level.

• Goal 1: No Poverty - End poverty in all its forms everywhere 
• Goal 2: Zero Hunger - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture 
• Goal 13: Climate Action - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts 
• Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
• Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

Making connections

In this report, the five SDGs under review are discussed together rather than separately given their interconnected nature. Feedback from partners and stakeholders has consistently noted that work to advance one SDG impacts other SDGs. Similarly, a lack of progress on one SDG can hinder progress on the others.

For example, No poverty (SDG 1) and Zero hunger (SDG 2) are closely linked. People with the lowest income report the highest rates of food insecurity.

A lack of access to nutritious food can lead to negative health outcomes (SDG 3). Actions that reduce poverty (SDG 1) can lead to progress on good health and well-being (SDG 3). They can also lead to better education outcomes (SDG 4), improved gender equality (SDG 5), better water and sanitation (SDG 6), and reduced inequalities (SDG 10).

Climate action (SDG 13) is another good example of how progress on one SDG helps advance other SDGs. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Canada needs to shift toward clean energy (SDG 7), create green jobs (SDG 8), move toward a circular economy (SDG 12), and invest in green infrastructure such as low-carbon transportation (SDG 11), and climate-resilient and energy-efficient buildings (SDG 9). Climate change can't be addressed without actions to preserve biodiversity and natural ecosystems (SDG 14 and SDG 15). Meeting emissions reductions targets will benefit human health and well-being (SDG 3) and help build resilient and sustainable communities (SDG 11) that benefit all Canadians.

Similarly, safe communities, equitable laws, and transparent and accountable institutions (SDG 16) are a necessary foundation to achieving the 2030 Agenda. Canada cannot reduce poverty and inequities, improve gender equality, ensure peace, or address fallouts from climate change without equal access to justice for all.

The interconnectedness of the SDGs speaks to the importance of all sectors of society and all orders of government looking beyond their individual mandates and recognizing the significant benefits that can be achieved by working collaboratively.

While working to advance the SDGs, it's important to make sure no one is left behind.

Leaving no one behind is the central, transformative promise of the 2030 Agenda. In Canada, this cannot be achieved without moving forward on reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis across Canada. Meaningful inclusion and partnership are key to Canada's efforts toward reconciliation.

Leaving no one behind 

Canada is making progress on the SDGs, but different groups across the country continue to experience inequities. These gaps detract from the promise of leaving no one behind and the realization of the SDGs in Canada. Inequities undermine well-being, limit opportunities, and threaten social cohesion and economic stability for all Canadians.

For example, there has been significant poverty reduction progress with the poverty rate in Canada declining from 14.5% in 2015 to 7.4% in 2021^{Footnote 2}. But poverty rates remain disproportionally higher for Indigenous Peoples, racialized groups, working-age singles, female-led sole-parent families, and persons with disabilities, among others. Poverty is also often acutely felt by many people living in Canada's northern territories, particularly with respect to Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, which have substantially higher poverty rates than the national rate^{Footnote 3}.

Similarly, food insecurity is experienced differently across Canada, and is affected by several intersecting factors, such as where people live, income, discrimination, education, Indigeneity, age, disability, and family structure. According to estimates from the 2021 Canadian Income Survey (CIS), 18% of families (6.9 million) reported experiencing some level of food insecurity, up from 16% in the previous year.^{Footnote 4} Food insecurity rates remain higher in the territories^{Footnote 5}, and for Indigenous Peoples living in isolated northern communities.^{Footnote 6}

2021 CIS data demonstrated that approximately 1 in 4 children in Canada (1.8 million) experienced some type of food insecurity.^{Footnote 7} Families who had a person with a disability as the major income earner were more likely to report food insecurity (30%) compared to all Canadian families (18%)^{Footnote 8}. In 2023, 42.4% of those accessing food banks were on social assistance or disability-related supports, and 13.6% received provincial disability support.^{Footnote 9}

In the 2015-2016 fiscal year, 50.8% of First Nations adults aged 18 and older living on reserve lived in a household that experience food insecurity^{Footnote 10}. In 2017, 77.1% of Inuit adults aged 18 and older living in Inuit Nunangat experienced food insecurity and 30% of Métis adults aged 18 and older lived in a household that experience food insecurity.^{Footnote 11 Footnote 12}

In addition, racialized people, Indigenous Peoples, 2SLGBTQI+ people, people with disabilities, and some religious minority communities experience discrimination. As an example, the number of hate crimes reported by police in Canada rose from 3,355 incidents in 2021 to 3,576 in 2022, which is a 7% increase. This followed two sharp annual increases, resulting in a cumulative rise of 83% from 2019 to 2022.^{Footnote 13} Discrimination has negative impacts on mental health and can contribute to higher poverty rates. These groups can face difficulties and barriers in accessing justice and culturally safe healthcare, such as a lack of culturally relevant supports in appropriate languages.

To address these issues and ensure no one is left behind, the federal government is working on a new Anti-Racism strategy that builds on the foundations set in the Anti-Racism strategy of 2019-2022, as well as an Action Plan on Combatting Hate. These initiatives build on the commitment to fight racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and hate, and to promote the development of all people, including Indigenous persons, Black and racialized persons, and members of religious minorities.

Climate change, (for example, increased temperatures and more frequent natural disasters) affects groups differently. Youth, seniors, Indigenous Peoples, people with chronic health conditions, people living in the North, marginalized low-income people, and racialized communities can be disproportionally impacted by climate change.^{Footnote 14} For example, at the Métis National Council's Global Summit in February 2024, a First Nations youth whose community was destroyed by a wildfire spoke powerfully about the unique challenges that remote and rural communities face when being evacuated during an emergency.

Vulnerable populations throughout the country rely on Community Service Organizations to deliver essential programs and social services, ranging from initiatives such as food banks, to building and managing affordable housing, to running youth employment and equity and inclusion programs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government worked in close partnership with the charitable and non-profit sector to support communities across Canada. To support community partners, the Government of Canada distributed a combined $750 million in funding for charities and non-profits through the Emergency Community Support Fund and the Community Services Recovery Fund. Together, these programs ensured that Community Service Organizations could continue serving the most vulnerable Canadians during a time of crisis, and that they had the tools and support needed to make sure no one in Canada is left behind.

Gender equality is essential to leaving no one behind. Although many gains have been made including record-high women’s labour force participation, women in Canada and around the world are still underrepresented in decision-making processes, are less likely to be employed or participate in the labour force and have lower average annual earnings than men. Indigenous women are much more likely to experience violence, and women around the world are experiencing higher rates of gender-based violence, particularly in conflict settings.

In Canada, one way the federal government strives to make sure no one is left behind is by applying intersectional gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) to federal initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is affected by an initiative, for identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet the diverse needs of the people most impacted, and for anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefiting from the initiative. GBA Plus goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, Indigenous identity, ethnicity, economic status, geography (including rurality), language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada created an Inuit-specific GBA Plus Framework to ensure that new and existing policies, programs, and services reflect the unique needs and social experiences of Inuit women, girls, and gender-diverse Inuit. The Framework is based on the understanding that Inuit women, gender-diverse people and their communities have existing strengths, experience, and capabilities that make them adaptable and vibrant. This work adds to existing Indigenous-first and distinctions-based GBA Plus frameworks created by the Native Women's Association of Canada and Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis youth talked about the importance of leaving no one behind during the Métis National Council's 2024 Global Summit. They said that during challenging times, anxiety can start to diminish when people feel like they're truly being heard. They encouraged people to ask questions when making decisions, such as "who is not in the room?" and "whose perspectives are we not hearing?"

The next section includes a variety of whole-of-society perspectives. Federal efforts are combined with stories about what people across the country are doing to advance the SDGs. That's because partnerships with Indigenous governments, provinces, territories, cities, the private sector, civil society, equity-seeking groups, and all Canadians are critical to advancing the SDGs.

Taking action

Together|Ensemble is Canada's national conference devoted to tracking progress on the 2030 Agenda and advancing the SDGs. The 2023 Together|Ensemble report emphasizes that to advance the SDGs, Indigenous inclusion, participation and leadership must be prioritized. This section begins with an overview of leadership actions taken by National Indigenous Organizations to advance the five SDGs under review.

National Indigenous Organizations

The Assembly of First Nations

The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) advocates for First Nations in Canada, facilitating regional discussions and dialogue, advocacy efforts and campaigns, legal and policy analysis, and building relationships between First Nations, governments, businesses and the public. The AFN takes direction and fulfills mandates as directed by First Nations-in-Assembly through resolutions.

Resolution 44/2021 emphasized the importance of Canada collaborating with the AFN in full partnership for the SDGs, the 2030 Agenda, and the Canadian Indicator Framework. It calls for a human rights-based approach aligned with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Priorities include enhancing data disaggregation, data sovereignty, and allocating resources for developing First Nations indicators that respect the First Nations principles of ownership, control, access, and possession (OCAP principles).

In 2023, the AFN advanced the SDGs under review in several ways. For example, it released the National First Nations Homelessness Action Plan, which advocates for a comprehensive, multi-partner approach to reducing, preventing and ending First Nations homelessness. The Plan aligns with the goal of transitioning First Nations housing and related infrastructure to First Nations management, control and care, as determined by Resolution 79/2019.

The AFN works in partnership with Health Canada, the University of Ottawa, the University of Montréal, McGill University, and Laval University to advance research efforts under the Food, Environment, Health, and Nutrition of First Nations Children and Youth (FEHNCY) study. FEHNCY is a cross-Canada research study that investigates the nutrition, health, and environment of First Nations children ages 3 to 19. The FEHNCY study was initiated in the Atlantic region in the fall of 2022 and in Saskatchewan in the spring of 2023.

In July 2023, the AFN National Climate Strategy was officially endorsed by First Nations-in-Assembly. The Strategy contains seven priority areas, along with 108 strategies and actions. More than 1,000 First Nation experts, leaders, youth, men, women, 2SLGBTQI+ individuals, Knowledge Keepers, professionals, and allies from coast-to-coast-to-coast participated in its development.

The AFN carried out the mandate from Resolution 36/2021, (Call for Recommitment, Funding and Clear Timeline for Development and Implementation of a National First Nations Justice Strategy) by creating a Chiefs Committee on Justice to carry out engagement through national justice forums. The AFN held a National Forum on Restorative Justice to discuss revitalization of Indigenous legal traditions, reclamation of First Nations jurisdiction over justice systems, and First Nations legal traditions and the Canadian criminal justice system. There is a need to revitalize restorative justice programs to better meet the needs of First Nations.

The AFN collaborates with Employment and Social Development Canada, Global Affairs Canada, and other federal government departments to champion First Nations' interests concerning the SDGs. By participating in national and international events, the AFN has established connections and strengthened relationships with organizations, as well as advocating for the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples in SDG implementation. Additionally, the AFN manages an SDG Sub-Working Group, comprising policy experts from diverse AFN sectors such as Environment, Infrastructure, Economic Development, Health, Social, Rights, Justice, and Governance.

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) is the national representational organization for the over 70,000 Inuit living in Canada, the majority of whom live in four regions: the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (Northwest Territories), Nunavut, Nunavik (Northern Québec) and Nunatsiavut (Northern Labrador). Collectively, these four regions make up Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland in Canada.

Inuit Nunangat includes 51 communities and encompasses 40% of Canada's land area and more than 72% of its coastline. Consistent with its founding purpose, ITK represents the rights and interests of Inuit at the national level, through a democratic governance structure representing all Inuit regions.

The Inuit Nunangat Policy applies to all federal departments and agencies, guiding them in the design, development and delivery of all new or renewed federal policies, programs, services, and initiatives that apply in Inuit Nunangat or benefit Inuit, including programs of general application, and to support Inuit self-determination. The purpose of the Policy is to promote prosperity and support community and individual well-being throughout Inuit Nunangat, with the goal of socio-economic and cultural equity between Inuit and other Canadians.

Inuit are a strong and resilient population, and they are entitled to the same standards of safety, health, education, and social and cultural security enjoyed by all Canadians. However, serious inequities exist, such as profound poverty, high prevalence of food insecurity, and the impacts of colonization and systemic racism on health and well-being.

To implement the SDGs, Canada must advance efforts to eliminate the inequity between Inuit Nunangat and the rest of Canada. Canada must understand the unique challenges Inuit face and take a distinctions-based approach to tracking success while supporting Inuit self-determination.

Please visit ITK's website for updates on all their work.

Métis National Council

The Métis National Council (MNC) is the national and international voice of the Métis Nation within Canada. Through the Canada-Métis Nation Accord, the MNC advocates on behalf of its Governing Members—the democratically elected Métis Governments of Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia—to advance Métis rights and interests within their respective jurisdictions, including the implementation of the Métis Nation's inherent right to self-determination and self-government. The MNC undertakes three core functions: convening, strategic policy development and coordination, and advocating.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development clearly aligns with the Métis National Council's mission to enhance and promote the cultural, social, economic, and political interests of the Métis Nation. The 2030 Agenda is holistic and targets structural inequities to reduce inequality within countries. This dovetails with the MNC's long-term vision that "Métis people are healthy, resilient, grounded in their culture and language, and thriving as individuals and as members of their Métis families and communities."

The MNC outlines four key principles in implementing the 2030 Agenda:

• All human rights are interrelated, interdependent, interconnected and indivisible, regardless of the instrument in which they are affirmed.
• Disaggregated data is essential to knowing whether the SDGs are being met.
• Responsive, inclusive, participatory, and representative decision-making is necessary to achieving the vision set out in the 2030 Agenda.
• The elimination of all forms of discrimination is crucial to the effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

The five SDGs under review align with the MNC's priorities. For example, the MNC is working with Employment and Social Development Canada to propose a plan for the development of Métis Poverty Indicators. The indicators will be co-developed by the Métis Nation and Canada. In 2023, the MNC held a Housing and Homelessness Forum to allow Governing Members to come together, share information on existing programs across the Métis Nation Homeland, and provide information and feedback on Canada's Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy.

The MNC has prioritized working closely with Governing Members to address the most significant challenges to the Métis Nation: climate change and biodiversity loss. In March 2023, at Métis Crossing in Smoky Lake, Alberta, the MNC hosted the Goose Moon Table. The meeting brought together representatives from Governing Members, Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak, the MNC and various federal departments to discuss how to further support and develop Métis climate leadership across the Homeland. Work continues with Governing Members to release the final Métis National Climate Strategy in spring 2024.

With respect to justice and legislative affairs, progress has been made on:

• The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act(UNDA), including drafting measures for the UNDA Action Plan and initiating the implementation of those measures.
• A national forum on Métis justice held in Calgary in spring 2023.
• The Indigenous Justice Strategy, convening a Justice and Policing working group through the Permanent Bilateral Mechanism to conclude a Justice and Policing Sub-Accord.

Addressing the overrepresentation of Métis people within the criminal justice system is a priority.

Like the MNC, the 2030 Agenda articulates a framework where working toward sustainable development means that no one is left behind. The MNC uses the 2030 Agenda, along with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to ensure that Métis values are respected in any decisions impacting them across the broad spectrum of the 2030 Agenda.

Whole-of-society actions

This section further highlights efforts taken by other orders of government, civil society organizations, academic institutions, and businesses in 2023 to advance the SDGs.

No Poverty (SDG 1)

Data on Canada's Official Poverty Line shows that Canada's overall poverty rate was 7.4% in 2021, representing a substantial decline from 14.5% in 2015. Between 2015 and 2021, close to 2.3 million Canadians are estimated to have been lifted out of poverty.^{Footnote 15}

People across the country are working tirelessly to further eradicate poverty in Canada. For example:

• In Antigonish, Nova Scotia, the Antigonish Coalition to End Poverty brings people together to build community fridges, pantries and gardens, to establish affordable housing units.
• The Outreach Social Care Foundation—a Black-led, Black-serving organization dedicated to advancing the—SDGs—works to reduce poverty in Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) and 2SLGBTQI+ communities. This year over 100 BIPOC youth participated in a mental health and substance youth initiative focused on sport and physical activity.

• Based in Calgary, Alberta, Home Tuition Canada International empowers youth and seniors from minority communities to reach their full potential through education and skill development. One example is their program to support financial security for elderly people.
• Across the country, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind offers programs and services to help people of all ages with vision loss become more employable. Examples include iPhone/iPad training, braille and literacy training, and the Come to Work program, which connects job seekers who are blind or partially sighted with employers looking to discover Canada’s full potential.

In 2023, the federal government launched initiatives to ease financial strain on low-income families and individuals. For example: 

• A one-time top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit provided $402,366,000 in benefits to over 815,000 low-income renters who couldn't find affordable housing.
• A $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund, was launched in March 2023, to conditionally provide money to municipalities across Canada according to each municipality's ability to remove obstacles to increasing housing construction while also enhancing density and affordability. The fund is expected to incentivize the creation of more than 100,000 new homes in the next three years.
• The first wave of the Canadian Dental Care Plan helped ease financial barriers to accessing oral health care for up to 9 million uninsured Canadian residents (this also supports SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being).
• The federal government continued implementing a Canada-wide early learning and child care system with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners. As of January 2024, eight provinces and territories are currently delivering regulated child care for an average of $10 a day or less and the remaining jurisdictions have all reduced child care fees by at least 50%. The federal government also continued supporting First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation partners to advance their early learning and child care priorities.
• The royal assent of the Canada Disability Benefit Act on June 22, 2023. The goal of the Canada Disability Benefit is to reduce poverty and support the financial security of working-age persons with disabilities.

These initiatives are in addition to existing programs that improve the ability of families and individuals to afford the things they need, such as the tax-free Canada Child Benefit, the Canada Workers Benefit, and Old Age Security (OAS) program benefits, including the OAS pension, and the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

These forms of financial support are adjusted for inflation, which means that they keep pace with the rising cost of living that impacted many Canadians in 2023.

In addition, the On-Reserve Income Assistance Program provides funds to help eligible on-reserve residents, (and certain residents of Yukon) cover their essential needs. In response to ongoing hardships that clients of this program and their families face due to cost-of-living increases, the federal government provided an additional $320 million over 10 months. This amount equates to approximately $300 per client per month for 10 months, or an alternative option determined by First Nation leadership to support eligible individuals and families. The federal government is working with First Nations partners to improve the On-Reserve Income Assistance program to ensure its responsiveness to the specific needs of First Nations communities to address affordability barriers.^{Footnote 16}

Zero Hunger (SDG 2)

SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) is closely connected to SDG 1 (No Poverty). People with the lowest income report the highest rates of food insecurity.

The Métis National Council's 2024 Global Summit included a discussion among First Nations, Inuit, and Métis participants about the value of localized, community-driven actions to advance SDG 2. The importance of localization is also emphasized in the 2023 Together|Ensemble report and in a Université Laval project to validate tools and methodologies for supporting local communities in Quebec. One goal of the project is to encourage better monitoring of the impact of local action by creating local indicators associated with SDG targets.

Many organizations are working locally to help people in their communities. For example:

• FoodReach seeks to combat the rising cost of food and high grocery store mark-ups by offering affordable, reliable, and convenient access to quality wholesale-priced food products to Toronto, Ontario's non-profit sector.
• The Princen Sammy Foundation, an Alberta-based organization, advocates for accountability on the No Poverty and Zero Hunger commitments made by all orders of government in Canada.
• The Toronto Cares Initiative provides food and other vital resources to over 15,000 low-income families, especially those with disabilities, mental health challenges, seniors and the unhoused. In 2023, more than 900 meals were served to people experiencing homelessness, more than 16,000 pounds of clothes and household items were donated, and more than 650 back-to-school kits were distributed.
• Future Earth Canada Hub, a Quebec based not-for-profit, partners with Sustainability in the Digital Age, a Concordia University think tank, to conduct ongoing research on data-driven insights for sustainable agriculture.
• Egg Farmers of Canada partners with food banks and breakfast programs to deliver millions of eggs to vulnerable Canadians and northern communities.
• United Way Centraide Windsor-Essex County in Windsor, Ontario, pilots school lunch programs and supports opportunities for equity-deserving groups to supply and grow food for school lunch programs.

A priority for the federal government is to strengthen local food systems. Since its launch in 2019, the Local Food Infrastructure Fund has supported over 1,100 food security projects across Canada by investing in equipment and infrastructure needs. These projects have a concrete impact on people's lives, providing a range of supports such as community gardens, much-needed storage units for donated food, and greenhouses in remote and northern communities. In 2023, an additional $10 million was allocated to help improve food security in communities across Canada.

To address inequities and support unique food security needs in the North, the federal government funds food security programs in isolated northern communities. Nutrition North Canada programs make a difference in people's lives by providing subsidies for local food producers, local retailers, nutrition education initiatives, and food security research to improve food affordability and security in the North. It also provides support for traditional hunting, harvesting and food sharing in isolated communities. In 2023, the federal government signed Harvesters Support Grant and Community Food Programs Fund agreements with 24 Indigenous governments and organizations. These grant agreements, totalling $120.7 million, will support traditional hunting, harvesting, food-sharing, and community food programs in 112 eligible isolated and northern communities.

Other examples of new initiatives in 2023 to advance food security include the launch of the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership a federal, provincial, and territorial joint initiative that will provide $3.5 billion over the next five years to strengthen the competitiveness, innovation, and resiliency of the agriculture, agri‐food, and agri‐based products sector; and the development of a draft Sustainable Agriculture Strategy that was published for public consultation in March 2023 with the intention to improve the agriculture sector's environmental performance and resilience to climate change.

Food security is connected to the cost of food, which has significantly increased in recent years. In 2023, the Government passed Bill C-56, the Affordable Housing and Groceries Act. The Act aims to enhance competition in the grocery sector, to help bring down costs and ensure that Canadians have more choice about where they buy their groceries. Also in 2023, the federal government announced the establishment of a Grocery Task Force, which is supervising big grocers' work to stabilize prices, and the establishment of a Grocery Code of Conduct to support fairness and transparency across the industry.

Climate Action (SDG 13)

In 2023, Canadians faced an unprecedented wildfire season. As skies across the country turned orange, people helped each other cope and were inspired to take climate action for a healthier country and world.

At a recent SDG event, Indigenous participants from different countries spoke about what partnership means as the world takes action to address climate change. They spoke about the need to create policies based on the knowledge of people who are out on the land and the ocean every day. They emphasized the need to support and elevate Indigenous knowledge. In Saskatchewan, Wapi Kihew Attention to Creative Solutions Inc. helps integrate traditional ecological knowledge into sustainable land management practices and engages Indigenous youth in hands-on environmental activities and advocacy.

BC Parks Foundation's award-winning Park Prescriptions (PaRx) program inspires Canadians to take climate action throughout their lives and ensures that they are well equipped and resilient to face the effects of climate change. More than 12,500 medical professionals from across the nation now prescribe nature to their patients for health reasons. In 2023, an estimated 450,000 nature prescriptions were issued to Canadians, encouraging people to spend at least two hours a week outdoors to improve both personal and planetary health. PaRx has been featured by the World Health Organization and named a key partner in two international research projects, RESONATE (in the EU) and PANDA (in Australia).

In 2023, the federal government launched the National Adaptation Strategy after two years of engagement with provinces, territories, Indigenous partners, key experts, stakeholders, and partners across Canada. The Strategy presents a whole-of-society approach to reducing risk and building climate-resilient communities.

The Government of New Brunswick's Climate Education Framework fosters specific knowledge and skills for understanding climate change, its effects and how to address it; empowers learners to move beyond climate and environmental awareness to action; and cultivates an understanding that climate injustice is often linked to other types of discrimination based on social and cultural identity.

Examples of how people in Canada are working to support each other with climate change adaptation include a pilot project between British Columbia's Interior Health Authority, the Xeni Gwet'in First Nation, T'it'q'et First Nation, and Métis Nation British Columbia to co-develop culturally sensitive Heat Alert and Response Systems to help people prepare for extreme heat. Another example is federal support for 240 flood mapping related projects in over 300 communities across Canada, in partnership with provincial and territorial governments through the Flood Hazard Identification and Mapping Program. The aim is to complete flood hazard maps for higher-risk areas and make this information available to all Canadians.

Canada's greenhouse gas emissions reached a peak in 2007,^{Footnote 17} and emissions projections published in December 2023 show that Canada is on track to reduce emissions by 34% below 2005 levels by 2030. Canada's emissions target is 40% to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030, with an interim objective of 20% below 2005 levels by 2026. Canada is on track to significantly surpass the original 2030 target of 30% below 2005 levels, and to surpass the 2026 interim objective, but has more work to do to achieve the enhanced target of 40% to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030.

Text description of figure A1:

Year	Historical emissions[A] (megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent)	"Reference case" scenario scenario (megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent)	"Additional measures" scenario - no NBCS and agriculture measures (megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent)	"Additional measures" scenario [B] (megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent)
2005	732	n/a	n/a	n/a
2006	722	n/a	n/a	n/a
2007	751	n/a	n/a	n/a
2008	733	n/a	n/a	n/a
2009	675	n/a	n/a	n/a
2010	712	n/a	n/a	n/a
2011	727	n/a	n/a	n/a
2012	719	n/a	n/a	n/a
2013	718	n/a	n/a	n/a
2014	692	n/a	n/a	n/a
2015	725	n/a	n/a	n/a
2016	695	n/a	n/a	n/a
2017	693	n/a	n/a	n/a
2018	707	n/a	n/a	n/a
2019	697	n/a	n/a	n/a
2020	629	n/a	n/a	n/a
2021	637	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	n/a	688	679	n/a
2023	n/a	637	626	n/a
2024	n/a	630	610	n/a
2025	n/a	624	597	n/a
2026	n/a	615	573	n/a
2027	n/a	608	551	n/a
2028	n/a	590	526	n/a
2029	n/a	577	505	n/a
2030	n/a	560	480	467
2031	n/a	556	470	457
2032	n/a	550	461	448
2033	n/a	548	455	442
2034	n/a	544	448	435
2035	n/a	541	436	423

Note: n/a = not applicable. NBCS = nature-based climate solutions. [A] Historical emissions data from 2005 to 2020 correspond to the emissions presented in the National Inventory Report 1990-2021: Greenhouse gas sources and sinks in Canada (www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/greenhouse-gas-emissions/inventory.html) to which were added the accounting contribution from the land use, land use change and forestry sector. [B] NBCS and agriculture measures contribution was estimated for the year 2030 only. The scenario assumes the 2030 estimate (reduction of 12 to 13 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, with a central estimate of 13) is constant out to 2035. For more information on the projection scenarios, refer to the Data sources and methods (www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/environmental-indicators/greenhouse-gas-emissions-projections.html#DSM)

Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada (2023) Canada's Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Emissions Projections 2023 (http://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/greenhouse-gas-emissions/projections.html). Environment and Climate Change Canada (2023) National Inventory Report 1990-2021: Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks in Canada (www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/greenhouse-gas-emissions/inventory.html)

Available on the Environmental indicators website (www.canada.ca/environmental-indicators).

In 2023, Canadian businesses took leadership to reduce emissions. For example, Deux Freres, a company in Edmonton, Alberta, transformed its trucking operations into an environmentally sustainable model by investing in eco-friendly driver training programs, by purchasing and implementing emission reduction technologies, and by using GPS tracking systems for route optimization for all trucks in their fleet.

Another private sector example is Rathco ENG Ltd., an engineering firm in Guelph, Ontario, that specializes in renewable energy systems. They designed the district energy system that enabled Canada's first net-zero community development, Zibi. They also designed the Town of Whitby's new sports centre to be net-zero emissions using waste heat capture and geo-exchange.

Academic institutions are playing a key role too. For example, as a signatory of the University and College Presidents' Climate Change Statement of Action for Canada, Queen's University pledged to enhance its research and curriculum in the areas of climate change and sustainability and is on track to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Examples of municipal leadership include the Town of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, which is working on an Active Transport Plan to promote sustainable and healthy transportation options.

The federal government is implementing over 140 mitigation-related climate policies and measures as part of its 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan and over 70 adaptation-related measures as part of the Government of Canada Adaptation Action Plan.

For example, in 2023 the Government of Canada:

• Published its first progress report on the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan under the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act. The report showed progress on climate plan implementation and highlighted actions taken across Canada by all orders of government, working closely with civil society and the private sector. Examples of progress include improved zero-emission vehicle affordability, the availability of charging stations, and the promotion of zero-emission technologies.
• Introduced the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard. The standard sets annual zero-emission vehicle sales targets of at least 20% for 2026, rising to 60% by 2030 and 100% for 2035, and commits to ensuring that enough charging infrastructure is available. To date, the federal government has committed funds for the installation of over 43,000 chargers across the country, with more than 10,000 in operation. Further, the Canada Infrastructure Bank's Charging and Hydrogen Refuelling Infrastructure Initiative has announced two projects with the private sector for the deployment of 4,000 electric vehicle chargers across Canada.
• Engaged with nearly 1,500 stakeholders to help inform Canada's Carbon Management Strategy. The Strategy outlines the role of carbon management in Canada's path to a prosperous net-zero economy. It also outlines actions to develop and deploy technology-enabled carbon management solutions that reduce, remove and reuse carbon dioxide.
• Launched the Indigenous Leadership Fund to support climate action by Indigenous Peoples. The program will fund Indigenous-owned and Indigenous-led renewable energy, energy efficiency, and low-carbon heating projects.
• Implemented financial instruments to support clean growth projects. One of these tools is carbon contracts for difference (CCFDs). CCFDs reduce the risk for businesses investing in clean technologies for important emission-reducing projects by guaranteeing the price of carbon for a fixed period. As announced in the 2023 Fall Economic Statement, the Canada Growth Fund will be the principal federal entity issuing CCFDs and will allocate up to $7 billion of its current $15 billion in capital to issue all forms of contracts for difference and offtake agreements. Also, Budget 2023 introduced a package of investment tax credits that will total more than $60 billion over the coming 10 years to support the clean economy and the decarbonization of the energy system.

Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (SDG 16)

Across the country, Canadians worked together to advance SDG 16. Examples of efforts to create a just country for all include the following:

• The Canadian Center for Women's Empowerment works to prevent economic abuse and combat systemic barriers faced by Black, Indigenous and People of Colour through education, community-based research, economic and financial empowerment, policy influencing and systemic change.
• Éducaloi works to make legal issues easy to understand for the general population, including answering people's legal questions. Éducaloi helped more than 6 million users and offered legal services to organizations working with vulnerable groups.
• The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice works on public-focused, actionable research and evidence-based advocacy on civil and family justice to promote equal access to justice for all.
• The Government of Ontario's One Vision One Voice program, which offered anti-Black racism training to 138 child welfare leaders.
• The City of Vancouver's Healthy City Strategy includes a focus on accessibility, safety and security, community granting, community economic development, anti-racism, cultural redress, and Indigenous relations and reconciliation. This strategy includes implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at a local level.

Over the past year, the federal government advanced SDG 16 through engagement with provincial and territorial partners, Indigenous governments, communities, and national and international networks. Highlights of that work include the following:

• The foreign ministers of Canada, the United States and Mexico signed the North American Partnership for Equity and Racial Justice. Key commitments include advancing equity, establishing a Trilateral Racial Equity and Inclusion Expert Network, and collaborating on regional and multilateral platforms to promote human rights, including those outlined in international agreements like the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the SDGs.
• Bilateral agreements with provincial and territorial governments to implement the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence were signed. These agreements will support jurisdictions with their specific needs and priorities related to ending gender-based violence.^{Footnote 18}
• The federal government expanded the expungement regime to make additional historically unjust 2SLGBTQI+ offences eligible for expungement under the schedule of Bill C-66, the Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act. Additions to the schedule include bawdy house, indecency-based, and abortion-related offences.
• The Employment Equity Act Review Task Force released its final report, A Transformative Framework to Achieve and Sustain Employment Equity. Canada subsequently announced the initial commitment to modernize the Act, notably by creating a new designated employment equity group for 2SLGBTQI+ people.
• The Child Rights Impact Assessment tool was launched, along with an accompanying online course. This tool, grounded in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, will help federal government officials consider all potential effects of a proposed initiative on children and their rights.
• Development continued on Canada's Black Justice Strategy. This Strategy aims to address the anti-Black racism that has led to the overrepresentation of Black people in the criminal justice system. In 2023, an external steering group of Black experts and community leaders engaged with Black communities to provide strategic advice on the development of the Strategy.
• The implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action continued.
• Work continued to increase access to justice for Indigenous victims and survivors of crime and to implement the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People. In 2023, a new funding initiative was announced for activities that support access to culturally safe, Indigenous-led or co-developed supports and services for Indigenous victims and survivors of violence and crime.
• The Government released an Action Plan to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. The Action Plan, developed in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous Peoples, has 181 specific measures to advance greater equality and prosperity for Indigenous Peoples, including specific measures to reduce the socio-economic gaps that exist between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population and to tackle climate change.
• Criminal law reforms were passed in 2023 to amend the Criminal Code and other legislation to address issues concerning self-induced intoxication, registered sex offenders, and the bail conditions of high-risk offenders. This work was done in close collaboration with key stakeholders to better protect Canadian society, support victims and survivors of crime, and improve confidence in the criminal justice system.
• The tabling of a resolution on Equal Access to Justice for All and negotiation of its adoption before the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (A/RES/2023/27). This landmark resolution was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2023 and will support multilateral collaboration in strengthening the rule of law and people-centred justice.
• The Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, was ratified and implemented. This convention provides a low-cost and efficient means to obtain child and spousal support across international borders, for the benefit of more Canadian families and children.
• Amendments to the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act and the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Regulations came into force. These amendments allow for the release of income information to court officials in situations where parents fail to comply with their income disclosure obligations under the Divorce Act or provincial or territorial family laws.
• The first-ever Disability Inclusion Action Plan was launched to improve the lives of persons with disabilities — from achieving financial security, to finding a job, to being able to fully participate in their communities. A cornerstone of the Plan is the Canada Disability Benefit Act, which was passed in 2023. To inform the development of the benefit and future regulations, Canada engaged stakeholders, particularly persons with disabilities and, national disability organizations, as well as provinces, territories, National Indigenous Organizations and holders of modern treaties and self-government agreements.
• The tabling of a proposed Online Harms Act, which will create a framework to hold online platforms accountable and keep Canadians safe from hateful and harmful content online, including strong protections for children.

Partnerships for the goals (SDG 17)

Without meaningful partnerships, it's impossible to advance the SDGs or fulfill the promise of leaving no one behind. This section takes a closer look at actions taken in 2023 to encourage partnerships.

Helping other countries

Canada's international assistance contributes to building a more inclusive, peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. This year, the federal government supported global efforts to advance SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

For example, Canada:

• Worked with Mexico to facilitate the insertion of an anti-racism pillar in the Canada-Mexico Action Plan signed by the leaders of both countries.
• Partnered with BRAC (a Bangladesh international development organization) to reduce women's poverty in Bangladesh. Coaching, business start-up support and technical training in goat and poultry rearing and homestead gardening was provided to 5,000 women living in poverty. The project also provided skills training to 2,700 youth to engage in income-generating activities.
• Supported a revised ‘Handbook for Child Protection Staff in United Nations Peace Operations’. This tool helps to prioritize child protection throughout peacekeeping mission planning and operations.
• Announced a $450 million contribution to the second replenishment of the Green Climate Fund, the world's largest dedicated climate change fund and a critical funding mechanism of the Paris Agreement. This funding, which is a part of Canada's $5.3 billion international climate finance commitment, will directly support developing countries' clean energy transitions and climate-resilient sustainable development.
• Continued to provide longer-term agriculture and food systems development assistance to address the root causes of hunger and strengthen resilience in global agriculture and food systems for the poorest and most vulnerable. Canada disbursed $672 million in the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year.
• Agreed at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels, in a just, orderly, and equitable manner and to provide $16 million to help vulnerable countries and communities with climate change adaptation.
• Continued to lead international dialogue to increase awareness of the contributions that migrants and refugees make in their communities, including through the It Takes a Community global social media campaign. As the world faces unprecedented numbers of people on the move, these positive discussions — along with well-managed migration systems — are critical to building strong social bonds and safeguarding community well-being.

International partnerships face important challenges. These include the need for funding, technical support, and better coordination of efforts. There is an increased demand for international development funding, partly because of multiple crises occurring at the same time, such as geopolitical conflicts and climate change. Additional and sustained efforts are required to mobilize financing from all sources, including the private sector, to help fill funding gaps. 

Canada's international climate finance and innovative finance instruments aim to de-risk investments and mobilize private capital for sustainable development in developing countries.

The federal government is committed to improving how its international assistance is delivered using a feminist human rights-based, and inclusive approach. This involves, above all, integrating the human rights principles of participation and inclusion, equality and non-discrimination, and transparency and accountability. 

For example, last year, Canada:

• Funded approximately 185 Canadian organizations last year to carry out international assistance programming around the world. For example, Partners In Health Canada led a project to improve access to rights-based, gender-sensitive post-gender-based violence clinical care across 14 health facilities in Haiti. In the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year, out of the 736 survivors treated, 95% received psychosocial support and 88% were referred to legal services.
• Fostered innovative partnerships through the Small and Medium Organizations for Impact and Innovation program. In 2023, 35 small and medium organizations were engaged in international assistance efforts and 16,446 Canadians were engaged as global citizens. Among other initiatives, Canada's Fund for Innovation and Transformation, implemented by the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation, advanced the objectives of Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy in Somalia by supporting LISS Technologies to test easy-to-use, low-cost, solar-powered breast pumps for mothers with breastfeeding challenges.
• Continued its leadership work on the Steering Committee of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation, which is monitoring countries' progress on aligning with the principles for effective development cooperation to improve aid effectiveness and country-level development planning.  

Many other organisations contributed to Canada's international efforts in 2023. For example:

• Fondation Voix Angélique helped reduce the financial barriers to education and ensured that the hardest to reach children had the right to access quality education.
• CropLife Canada engaged and collaborated with international partnerships to amplify plant science as a solution to climate change and promoted Canada as a leader on the global food system stage.
• The Spinoza Foundation supported 299 households of children and youth living with HIV in Uganda.

Partnering domestically

Domestically, through the SDG Funding Program, the Government of Canada funds projects that support the work of partners and stakeholders to advance the SDGs. A total of 131 projects have been funded to date across Canada and, in December 2023, 14 projects were still ongoing, including projects that:

• Foster engagement, such as 2023 Together|Ensemble, the national annual conference devoted to tracking progress on the SDGs. In 2023, this conference brought together more than 1,000 people from the private sector, academia, government, and civil society to collaborate on innovative approaches to advance the 2030 Agenda. Funding has been provided to fund, in part, the 2024 conference.

• Integrate the SDGs into city and community planning to measure progress on SDGs, and to identify important data gaps at the local and regional levels. For example, Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement leads the Transition Cities project, which supports cities and communities to include the SDGs into their planning process. The goal is to have 100 cities committed to developing five-year transition city plans.

• Develop and gather best practices to advance SDGs for potential replication at the local or national level. For example, Ulnooweg Development Group Inc. is working to expand the number of Indigenous entrepreneurs, firms and organizations involved in sustainable fisheries and the ocean sector. Their goal is to deliver up to five scalable demonstrator projects that improve the sustainability of the Indigenous-owned ocean food sector in Atlantic Canada, and foster partnerships with ocean technology businesses to enhance innovation and knowledge sharing.

• Engage and include the voices of marginalized communities, including Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, racialized women, and refugees. These projects aim to address SDG gaps in marginalized communities and find inclusive approaches to design programs. One example is the Mothers Matter Centre's work on the Women's Insights Project. This project builds the capacity of vulnerable, isolated, and low-income racialized, refugee and Indigenous women in British Columbia. Women learn about SDGs and participatory action, identify SDG gaps within their communities, and design and implement community-led projects to bridge the gaps.

Social partners are also fostering collaboration. For example:

• York University's Homelessness Learning Hub is becoming an important resource for the homeless-serving sector across Canada. The Hub is a free, self-directed online platform that brings together promising practices and training in the form of practical tools and resources.
• The UN Global Compact Network Canada supports more than 200 companies to share best practices and strategies to create more just and sustainable ways of working.
• The Sustainable Development Solutions Network of Canada engaged more than 6,000 people across Canada on the SDGs in over 60 events. They developed more than 30 active collaborations with leading Canadian institutions to advance the SDGs, and mobilized more than $600,000 in funding to support SDG activities in Canada.

Opportunities for future partnerships

Canada has a committed national network of partners and stakeholders and must continue to build relationships to increase collective action to advance the SDGs. Many opportunities exist, both domestically and internationally, to further partnerships, and Canada will continue to support engagement to maintain a whole-of-society dialogue in support of the 2030 Agenda.

Highlights of partnership actions the Government of Canada will take include:

• Continued engagement with provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous partners, and stakeholders on the roll out of Canada’s first National School Food Program so more Canadian children can receive nutritious food at school.
• Continued work with Indigenous governments, organizations, and communities to co-develop policies, programs and initiatives that increase food security and food sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples.
• Work with provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous partners, and stakeholders to improve the collection, analysis, and application of disaggregated data on vulnerable groups that are often underrepresented or absent from official data. Better disaggregated data can provide valuable information to help guide the development of policies to address inequities.
• Continued support for increased mobilization of development financing from all sources to accelerate progress toward the SDGs.

For more information on federal actions, please visit Canada and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Creating an enabling environment for the 2030 Agenda in Canada

An enabling environment promotes conversation and engagement to encourage all Canadians to take action to advance the SDGs.

One way that Canada has created an enabling environment is through Moving Forward Together: Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy. It outlines how all Canadians can work toward implementing the 2030 Agenda and advancing the SDGs. It outlines five main objectives that are an important part of creating an enabling environment:

• Fostering leadership, governance and policy coherence 
• Raising awareness, engagement and partnerships 
• Accountability, transparency, measurement and reporting 
• Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and the 2030 Agenda 

• Investing in the SDGs

This section focuses on how Canadians, including the federal government and partners, took action to advance these five objectives in 2023.

Objective 1: Fostering leadership, governance, and policy coherence

The Government of Canada is committed to integrating the SDGs into its policies, programs and initiatives. The Federal Implementation Plan for the 2030 Agenda serves as a roadmap to help federal departments and agencies strengthen their capacity to design, implement and monitor coherent and integrated policies for sustainable development. Federal departments and agencies have incorporated the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs into their work and have contributed to advancing the SDGs within their areas of responsibility. For example, the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) brings together federal sustainable development priorities, establishes goals and targets, and identifies actions to achieve them. It is framed using the 17 SDGs, aligned with the 2030 Agenda, and highlights whole-of-government actions to support the advancement of the SDGs. The FSDS is implemented through 100 federal organizations' Departmental Sustainable Development Strategies.

Provincially, the Government of Québec promotes leadership, governance and policy coherence through its Sustainable Development Act and the Government Sustainable Development Strategy. The Sustainable Development Strategy has been adopted in Quebec for the period 2023 to 2028 and helps accelerate the introduction of innovative practices and solutions aimed at creating a greener, low-carbon and socially responsible Québec.

At the municipal level, the City of Montréal's 10-year strategic plan is aligned with the 2030 Agenda. Organized around 20 priorities, the plan aims to accelerate the ecological transition, strengthen solidarity, and promote democracy and citizen participation, while stimulating innovation. Examples of initiatives include a climate plan for a carbon-neutral city by 2050, a Nature and Sports Plan and an Urban Agriculture Strategy to preserve biodiversity in the city, a living environment equity index, and an Inclusive and Resilient Neighbourhoods approach.

A civil society example can be found in Global Shapers, an organization that works to empower and connect young leaders and that believes in a world where young people are at the heart of solution-building, policy-making and lasting change. Their Ottawa hub led an awareness campaign on the importance of voting in municipal elections, as well as a project on reducing (and raising awareness of) period poverty. This project featured a fundraiser and a panel discussion that included the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and community-based organizations. The group will continue their leadership by evaluating the changes to the Canada Labour Code regarding free menstrual products in the workplace and watching how the Menstrual Equity Fund is dispersed and used by organizations.

An example of governance that works toward justice, partnership and leaving no one behind is the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan, which is a response to the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and the Métis Perspectives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and LGBTQ2S+ People. Many groups worked together to co-develop the National Action Plan in collaboration with the National Family and Survivors Circle. For example, the 2022 progress report includes input from the National Family and Survivors Circle, National Indigenous Organizations, an urban working group, a 2SLGBTQQIA+ Committee, the federal government, and provincial and territorial governments.

In June 2023, the Government of Canada amended the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. The Government is currently implementing the changes, including recognition that every individual in Canada has a right to a healthy environment. The implementation of this right will be founded on principles such as environmental justice, intergenerational equity, and non-regression.

Internationally, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Network of National Focal Points for Policy Coherence serves as a collaborative platform for sharing experiences and developing guidance for policy coherence. Its purpose is to facilitate coordination among member countries to enhance governance systems and institutions to effectively implement the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. Through this network, Canada strengthens policy coherence by learning from the best practices of other OECD member countries. The OECD Recommendation on Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development emphasizes the need for enhanced governance and institutional capacity to navigate global crises, promote international cooperation and accelerate progress toward the SDGs.

To continue to foster Canadian leadership, governance and policy coherence, the federal government is committed to establishing an External Advisory Committee for the 2030 Agenda to bring together external partners and stakeholders who reflect a broad range of knowledge, regional diversity, expertise, and experience to advance the SDGs in Canada and abroad. The Committee will be launched in 2024 and provide informal strategic advice and guidance to Employment and Social Development Canada on its work to implement the 2030 Agenda and achieve the SDGs.

Objective 2: Raising awareness, engagement and partnerships

In 2023, the Prime Minister, the ministers, and federal officials continued to raise awareness about the importance of working to advance the SDGs.

Since 2022, Prime Minister Trudeau has been Co-Chair of the United Nations Secretary-General's SDG Advocates Group, a group of 17 influential people from around the world who raise awareness of the SDGs and the need for accelerated action. The Prime Minister also championed the SDGs at events such as:

• Global Citizen NOW Summit
• SDG Halfway Point Roundtable
• SDG Summit
• UN General Assembly High-level Week
• Canada-CARICOM Summit SDG Town Hall (with fellow SDG Advocates Co-Chair Prime Minister Mottley of Barbados)

The Minister of Families, Children and Social Development leads the domestic implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Canada. In July 2023, she led the Canadian delegation to the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. The Canadian delegation included 65 people who represented Canada's diversity and included members from civil society organizations, academia, the private sector, all-levels of governments, Indigenous Peoples, and youth. It was an important opportunity to engage in SDG-related discussions, showcase Canada's achievements in advancing the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs, share best practices, and discuss common challenges.

In 2023, the Minister participated in events to engage with Canadians on the SDGs, such as:

• Canada SDG Youth Awards

• SDG Week Canada
• Together|Ensemble 2023 (Canada's national conference on the SDGs)
• Federation of Canadian Municipalities' Sustainable Communities Conference
• Mothers Matter Centre's National Webinar on Building Capacity and Bridging SDG Gaps

The Minister of Families, Children and Social Development also participated as a panel judge for the UN SDG Action Awards, a signature program of the UN SDG Action Campaign. The UN SDG Action Awards recognize initiatives and individuals that mobilize, inspire and connect people to drive positive change.

The Minister of International Development leads Canada's international efforts to achieve the SDGs, and is responsible for fostering sustainable development and poverty reduction in developing countries and for the provision of humanitarian assistance during crises.

In 2023, the Minister of International Development participated in several events where he promoted the SDGs, including:

• Seventh Assembly of the Global Environment Facility
• 2023 Women Deliver Conference
• Summit for a New Global Financing Pact
• International Development Week 2023
• G20 Development Ministers' Meeting

Throughout the year, several other federal officials participated in various events to talk about what Canada is doing to implement the 2030 Agenda and advance the SDGs. A highlight was meeting with the Prime Minister's Youth Council. The council members talked about how to best engage youth in advancing the SDGs, and how working to achieve one SDG can have positive effects on other SDGs. They also spoke about the importance of including vulnerable populations and making sure more Canadians are aware of the SDGs.

During engagement, participants provided advice on advancing the SDGs and spoke about the lack of SDG awareness in rural Canada. Partnerships are needed to engage rural areas and show how rural communities can directly benefit from advancing the SDGs.

Participants also noted that, in other countries, it is common to see advertisements from companies that showcase their alignment with the SDGs. Canada could encourage both private industry and the non-profit sector to explore the benefit of advertising how their activities contribute to the SDGs.

The regional and provincial councils that make up the Inter-Council Network use creative ways to engage Canadians on the SDGs. For example, the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation created "Fast Fashion: The T-shirt Board Game" to raise awareness about the negative impact of fast fashion, and they also sponsored a Manitoba Moose hockey game that featured the SDGs on Jumbotron displays.

A respondent to the public questionnaire noted that while Canada promotes a whole-of-society approach to the SDGs where no one is left behind, the objectives and strategies are aimed at high-level systems change that can feel out of reach in the local context. Similarly, other respondents noted that some SDGs are easier for a person to work toward than others. For example, Climate Action can be straightforward for an individual (for example, by shopping locally, buying used items or recycling), but ‘No Poverty’ might be difficult for an individual person to work toward. They suggested that Canadians should be provided with examples of actions that everyone (such as individuals, communities, organizations) can take so people better understand their roles and feel like they are a part of the efforts.

The federal government continues to use social media, digital and traditional communications to build awareness, engage audiences and promote activities around the 2030 Agenda. For example, in 2023, the 2030 Agenda webpage was updated to provide information about federal policies and programs that help to advance SDGs. This webpage includes overviews of each of the 17 SDGs and serves to inform Canadians about the Government of Canada's work to achieve the SDGs.

Objective 3: Strengthening accountability, transparency, measurement and reporting

It's important to track Canada's progress to advance the SDGs.

In July 2023, Canada presented its second Voluntary National Review (VNR), A Continued Journey for Implementing the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals to the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. Canada presented its first VNR in 2018. VNRs are how Canada and UN member states report on SDG progress to the UN. The 2023 VNR reported on Canada's achievements and experiences in advancing the 17 SDGs since 2018.

To draft the 2023 VNR, the Government held a public consultation to seek input from Canadians on the work they undertook to advance the SDGs, while also noting projects, challenges and opportunities.

Work continues to better measure progress on the SDGs. Data disaggregation can help show inequities, promote fairness and inclusion, and show if population groups are being left behind as Canadians work to advance the SDGs.

The City of Vancouver is working with partners on urban Indigenous indicators and data governance. Statistics Canada continues to use available data to improve reporting on both the global and domestic frameworks. For example, further data disaggregation, statistics and data visualization features are continually being provided to enhance the experience of data users. Statistics Canada developed a tool for the evaluation of the quality of non-official data that could be used to help fill gaps in data reporting for the SDGs.

A strategic review of the Canadian Indicator Framework was launched in fall 2023. The Canadian Indicator Framework is used as a complement to the Global Indicator Framework to measure Canada's progress on the SDGs. The purpose of the review is to ensure the continued relevance of the framework and to address emerging Canadian priorities. The updated Canadian Indicator Framework is expected to be released in summer 2024.

In the coming years, Canada will also lead the comprehensive review of the Global Indicator Framework with the UN Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators. These actions, along with work to reduce data gaps in reporting on the SDGs, will provide more information for better assessments of progress in Canada and globally.

Objective 4: Advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples

First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities across Canada continue to be impacted by the ongoing effects of colonization. Canada can't advance the SDGs without addressing inequities and socio-economic gaps.

There is more work to do to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' Calls for Justice and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. Federal work on the SDGs is tied to these commitments. To meet these commitments, it is essential that the perspectives of Indigenous Peoples are actively sought and included.

An important part of reconciliation is addressing past harms by supporting First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities searching for the truth about the legacy and ongoing impacts of residential schools. Another priority is working with First Nations, Inuit and Métis to improve essential services and infrastructure, including clean drinking water and safe housing. Self-determination is a critical part of reconciliation. Canada is actively working with over 170 Indigenous communities toward agreements that recognize and implement rights.

To promote greater equality and prosperity for Indigenous Peoples, Canada released its 2023 -2028 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan developed in cooperation with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis from across Canada, to reduce the socio-economic gaps that exist between Indigenous populations, including urban and off-reserve representation, and non-Indigenous populations

To make sure Indigenous voices are included in the implementation of 2030 Agenda, the federal government continues to support a distinctions-based approach by supporting the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and the Métis National Council in their work to advance the SDGs.

Objective 5: Investing in the SDGs

Several respondents to the public questionnaire commented on the funding challenges they face when implementing projects to advance the SDGs. At the SDG Summit in 2023, world leaders made a political declaration that acknowledged the need for a "quantum leap" in investments to support just and equitable energy, food, and digital transitions. The declaration called for a massive increase in financing for the achievement of the SDGs.

Canada has made significant investments to support, facilitate and encourage action toward the 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDGs. The federal government will continue to engage with partners to deploy innovative and flexible financing tools to better engage with public and private partners to mobilize additional investment in support of the SDGs internationally.

The Sustainable Development Goals Funding Program is the federal government program that supports the work of partners and stakeholders to achieve the SDGs in Canada. In 2023, the federal government launched a new call for proposals for projects. More than 1,000 proposals were received from not-for-profit organizations, municipalities, provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous organizations, Indigenous governments, coalitions and networks, educational institutions, public health institutions, social services institutions, and for-profit organizations.

A total of approximately $3.5 million per year for three years will be allocated for this round of funding. Selected projects will begin in 2024. The results of the call for proposals will be known later in 2024.

Since it first began, the SDG Funding Program has invested $22 million to fund 131 projects. As of December 2023, 14 projects from the previous funding cycle are ongoing.

Another way that Canada is investing in the SDGs is through the Social Finance Fund, an innovative $755 million initiative that offers social purpose organizations access to flexible and affordable financing to develop and scale up social innovations that will contribute to achieving the SDGs.

Internationally, Canada contributed $14.2 billion in Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD)^{Footnote 19} and mobilized $55 million in private finance in 2022.

The Addis Ababa Action Agenda is the global framework for financing sustainable development. Canada continues to support the Addis Ababa Action Agenda as the primary financing framework for driving 2030 Agenda implementation, while recognizing that some aspects may benefit from an update, as will be discussed during the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development taking place in 2025.

Multilateral development banks offer grants, guarantees, credits and low-cost loans to borrowing member countries to achieve development goals. In 2023, Canada supported efforts to improve and develop multilateral development banks, including by enhancing their ability to mobilize private capital.

In September 2023, Canada announced it would allocate an additional 700 million Special Drawing Rights, representing approximately $1.3 billion, to the International Monetary Fund's Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (on top of its existing $1 billion contribution) to ensure that sufficient concessional financing is available to countries that need it most. Concessional financing means low-interest rates, grace periods or extended repayment-term financing. Canada will also offer Climate Resilient Debt Clauses in all new sovereign lending.

Canada continues to use innovative financing tools to mobilize additional public and private investments for the SDGs and to enhance the capacity of sovereign governments to make investments in poverty reduction. For example, in January 2023, Canada signed its first sovereign loan under the Sovereign Loans Program with the Government of Jordan, providing $120 million for the education sector. A second $120 million sovereign loan was signed in December 2023 with the Government of Guyana to support social services.

These actions are making a difference in people's lives. Canada's repayable investments in developing countries helped to decrease barriers to women's economic empowerment, scale clean energy transition and climate investments in underserved markets, enhance the resilience of food systems and agriculture, and support government investments in the public education sector.

Digital technology and the SDGs

Connected to each objective is the need to look at how digital technology can accelerate SDG progress in Canada. The UN Development Program's SDG Acceleration Agenda suggests that 70% of the SDG targets benefit from digital technologies.^{Footnote 20} Conversations between partners and stakeholders are required to determine how Canada can use digital technology to accelerate its progress to achieve the SDGs. Stakeholders have emphasized the need for a centralized platform to facilitate partnerships, awareness and engagement.

Way forward

The SDGs are an essential roadmap to a future that is fair, equal and peaceful. Valuable work is happening across the country toward achieving the SDGs-from civil society organizations establishing affordable housing units, to groups providing meals for homeless people, to businesses transforming their operations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to academic institutions researching the impact of local actions. All orders of government in Canada are committed to the SDGs and taking concrete action to advance them.

To address inequities and advance the SDGs, people in Canada continue to work in partnership with Indigenous, federal, provincial and territorial governments, and with communities, national networks and international organizations to help people with rising living costs, food insecurity, access to justice, and climate change.

This whole-of-society commitment is not only inspiring, but also essential to address today's global challenges, such as gender inequality, health inequities, increased food insecurity, housing, transportation costs, the impacts of geopolitical conflicts, and worsening natural disasters.

In 2023, important advancements were made but inequities persist.

The ultimate crosscutting objective-and the central transformative promise of the 2030 Agenda-is to leave no one behind. This can't be achieved without addressing inequities in partnership with the people who experience them the most. In Canada, meaningful work toward reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis is essential to leaving no one behind.

A lot of good work is being undertaken to advance the SDGs, but more needs to be done to achieve the objectives set out in Moving Forward Together: Canada's 2030 Agenda National Strategy. Areas for improvement include increasing awareness about the SDGs throughout Canada, including in rural areas; leveraging digital technology to accelerate progress to achieve the SDGs; improving data disaggregation to promote fairness and inclusion; and listening to and learning from the local experiences of people across the country.

People across Canada remain committed to the SDGs and to the partnerships required to advance them. As 2030 rapidly approaches, it is important to continue our collective efforts and support each other along the road to a better future. There is much work to do together to build a country and world with no poverty, zero hunger, planetary health, and justice for everyone.

Annex A - Statistical Annex

Introduction

This Statistical Annex complements Canada's Annual Report on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to provide a brief analysis of the country’s progress towards the SDGs. The Statistical Annex highlights overall progress and sheds a light on areas that may benefit from further attention to ensure that no one is left behind.

Indicators from both the Canadian Indicator Framework and the Global Indicator Framework are leveraged in the Statistical Annex. For each of the 17 Goals, two indicators have been highlighted. However, for more information on Canada's progress on all the indicators, please consult the data hubs for the Canadian Indicator Framework for the SDGs and the Global Indicator Framework. For the five priority SDGs highlighted in the main report (Goals 1, 2, 13, 16, 17), the presentation of the statistics for the 2 indicators is accompanied by a brief analysis^{Footnote 21}.

Indicators selected for each goal were determined based upon the availability of new data or where greater data disaggregation was possible in order to provide a more granular view. Furthermore, this annual report prioritized indicators which were not featured in Canada's 2023 Voluntary National Review to ensure adequate coverage of all themes through the years. Finally, the dimensions shown in the charts and tables were selected to highlight the groups or areas that had the greatest divergence from national trends to show a more nuanced representation between regions and/or groups.

SDG 1: No Poverty

Domestic Indicator 1.1.1: Poverty rate, as measured by Canada's official poverty line

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Domestic Indicator 1.1.1: Poverty rate, as measured by Canada's official poverty line (Percentage)

Geography	2020	2021
Canada	6.4	7.4
Newfoundland and Labrador	7	8.1
Prince Edward Island	7.6	7.4
Nova Scotia	7.7	8.6
New Brunswick	7.6	6.7
Quebec	4.8	5.2
Ontario	6.8	7.7
Manitoba	6.8	8.8
Saskatchewan	6.7	9.1
Alberta	5.5	7.8
British Columbia	7.6	8.8
Territories	18.1	20.2

Source: Low income statistics by age, sex and economic family type (statcan.gc.ca)

In Canada, the proportion of people living in poverty grew from 6.4% in 2020 to 7.4% in 2021. Rising poverty rates were driven by several factors, including increases to the costs of living and the winding down of government transfers over the period. These transfers were part of COVID-19 relief programs and played a key role in reducing the poverty rate to 6.4% in 2020, which led Canada to temporarily reach its target of reducing poverty by half from the 2015 level. Although the poverty rate increased to 7.4% in 2021, it remains substantially lower than in 2015 and one of the lowest rates observed in recent years.

At the provincial level, the proportion of people living in poverty increased in all but two provinces between 2020 and 2021. Among provinces showing an increase, the poverty rates in the Prairie provinces grew from being some of the lowest in the country in 2020 to representing some of the highest in 2021 with Saskatchewan accounting for the highest at 9.1% in 2021. Alberta's poverty rate remains the lowest within the Prairies, despite it rising from the second lowest nationally in 2020 (5.5%) to 7.8% in 2021. Meanwhile, in Quebec, the poverty rate also grew, rising from 4.8% in 2020 to 5.2% in 2021. Despite this increase, it remains substantially lower than the national average as well as representing the lowest poverty rate among all provinces.

In contrast, between 2020 and 2021, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick both posted the only poverty rate declines among all provinces. The proportion of persons living in poverty in Prince Edward Island declined to 7.4% in 2021 from 7.6% a year earlier. Meanwhile, the proportion of persons living in poverty in New Brunswick fell from 7.6% in 2020 to 6.7% in 2021, which was below the national average and the second-lowest poverty rate among all provinces.

Among the territories, 20.2% of the population lived in poverty in 2021, which was up from 18.1% in 2020 and represented a poverty rate almost three times higher than the national average. Among the three territories, Yukon had the lowest poverty rate with 7.7% in 2021, followed by the Northwest Territories (15.0%)^{Footnote 22}. Meanwhile, the preliminary poverty rate for Nunavut was 39.7% in 2021, which was substantially higher than the other territories and the highest in Canada.

Global Indicator 1.a.2: Proportion of total government spending on essential services

The proportion of total government spending allocated to essential services, (which includes health, education and social protection outlays expressed as a proportion of total expenditures) declined to 61.6% in 2022 from 62.4% in 2015. Essential services expenditures allocated to health remained proportionally the same, at almost 40% in both 2022 and 2015. Meanwhile, disbursements on social protection grew to account for 39.7% of total essential services expenditures from 38.0% in 2015, whereas disbursements on education, which account for the lowest share, declined to 20.5% in 2022.

The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the distribution of expenditures on essential services as observed through a surge in social protection spendings, which grew to account for almost half (49.6%) of all essential services outlays in 2020. Meanwhile, reflecting this increase, the share of expenditures allocated to health and education both declined around five percentage points between 2019 and 2020.

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Global Indicator 1.a.2: Proportion of total government spending on essential services

Detail	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Government expenditures, in millions
Total expenditures	$664,110	$687,511	$722,512	$759,819	$799,703	$1,049,271	$969,760	$962,701
Total expenditures on essential services	$414,369	$431,980	$452,777	$471,274	$489,490	$643,099	$602,977	$593,347
Share by type of services as a total of all essential services, in %
Health	39.8%	39.4%	38.9%	38.3%	38.4%	33.1%	38.0%	39.8%
Education	22.1%	21.9%	22.4%	22.6%	22.4%	17.3%	19.5%	20.5%
Social protection	38.0%	38.8%	38.8%	39.1%	39.2%	49.6%	42.5%	39.7%
Proportion of total spending allocated to essential services	62.4%	62.8%	62.7%	62.0%	61.2%	61.3%	62.2%	61.6%

Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Government Finance Statistics

Note: Includes federal government, provincial and territorial governments, health and social service institutions, universities and colleges, municipalities and other local public administrations and, school boards. Does not include the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Quebec Pension Plan (QPP).

SDG 2: Zero hunger

Domestic Indicator 2.1.1: Prevalence of food insecurity

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Domestic Indicator 2.1.1: Prevalence of food insecurity (Percentage)

Geography	2020	2021
Canada	30.1	34.1
Newfoundland and Labrador	39.2	30.4
Prince Edward Island	38.5
Nova Scotia	35.6	30
New Brunswick	34.6	41.4
Quebec	19.4	24.5
Ontario	33.6	38.3
Manitoba	31.4	41.8
Saskatchewan	41.8	36.1
Alberta	31.9	35.8
British Columbia	25.3	30.7

Source: Food insecurity by economic family type (statcan.gc.ca)

The proportion of persons experiencing food insecurity^{Footnote 23} in Canada grew from 11.2% in 2020 to 12.9% in 2021. Among family types, persons living in female lone-parent families experienced the highest rates of food insecurity in 2020 (30.1%) and 2021 (34.1%). This represented rates of food insecurity nearly three times higher than the national average and more than double those of persons living in male lone-parent families.

Food insecurity grew for persons living in female lone-parent families in most provinces between 2020 and 2021. Prevalence of food insecurity among persons living in female lone-parent families grew the most for those living in Manitoba, rising from 31.4% in 2020 to 41.8% in 2021, which was the highest level of food insecurity among provinces in 2021. The proportion of persons living in female lone-parent families experiencing food insecurity in Quebec grew from 19.4% in 2020 to 24.5% in 2021; nonetheless, it remains the province with the lowest prevalence of food insecurity.

In contrast, food insecurity among persons living in female lone-parent families decreased in three provinces between 2020 and 2021. The proportion of persons living in female lone-parent families in Newfoundland and Labrador experiencing food insecurity decreased from the second-highest level in 2020 (39.2%) to one of the lowest in 2021 (30.4%). Similarly, the prevalence of food insecurity among persons living in female lone-parent families declined to 36.1% for Saskatchewan and 30.0% Nova Scotia in 2021.

Domestic Indicator: 2.2.1: Index of Agri-Environmental Sustainability

The Index of Agri-Environmental Sustainability measures the environmental performance of the agriculture and agri-food sector. The index draws broad, national-level observations on the status and trends of sustainability in the agriculture and agri-food sector.

As of 2021, the Index of Agri-Environmental Sustainability stood at 65, after declining from a recent peak of 67 in 2016. This change reverses the upward trend previously observed and moves the Index further away from the 2030 target of 71. The decline observed between 2016 and 2021 can largely be attributed to drought conditions. Drought conditions can have a substantial impact on overall productivity and as a result may lead to an increase in the risks to the environment, as measured by the Index.

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Domestic Indicator: 2.2.1: Index of Agri-Environmental Sustainability (Index)

Year	Index of Agri-Environmental Sustainability	Soil Quality	Water Quality	Air Quality	Biodiversity	Target
2001	62	75	73	55	47	71
2006	65	77	74	59	49	71
2011	66	79	69	64	50	71
2016	67	79	75	64	50	71
2021	65	79	66	65	51	71

Source: https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/environment/resource-management/indicators

Among the sub-indices, the Water Quality index posted the only decline, as it decreased substantially from 75 in 2016 to 66 in 2021. During the same period, the Biodiversity and Air Quality indices both increased by one, reaching 51 and 65 respectively. Meanwhile, the Soil Quality index remained unchanged at 79, which represented the highest level and the only level above the 2030 target.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

Domestic Indicator 3.6.1: Percentage of Canadians who perceived their overall health and social well-being as very good to excellent

Text description of Figure 5

Domestic Indicator 3.6.1: Percentage of Canadians who perceived their overall health and social well-being as very good to excellent (Percentage)

Year	Canada	12 to 17 years	18 to 34 years	35 to 49 years	50 to 64 years	65 years and older
2015	61.9	72.9	70.9	64.3	57.7	47
2016	61.1	75.3	69.2	65.1	56	45.8
2017	61	75.7	70.9	64.1	54.2	46.8
2018	60.7	73.4	68.2	64	56.5	47.3
2019	61.2	75.7	67.6	65.1	56.6	48.4
2020	62.5	76.5	69	65.9	58.1	50
2021	59.7	71.9	66.1	61.3	56	49.9
2022	55.3	74.8	62.4	58	50.9	42.3

Source: Health characteristics, annual estimates (statcan.gc.ca)

Domestic Indicator 3.11.1: Tuberculosis incidence per 100,000 population in Inuit Nunangat

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Domestic Indicator 3.11.1: Tuberculosis incidence per 100,000 population in Inuit Nunangat (Rate per 100,000 population)

Year	Inuit Nunangat	Female	Male
2015	164.7	114.7	214.7
2016	168.7	147.1	185.3
2017	205.8	188.2	229.4
2018	194.3	154.3	234.3
2019	188.7	150	228.6
2020	72.2	55.6	88.9

Source: Tuberculosis Surveillance in Canada (publications.gc.ca)

SDG 4: Quality Education

Domestic Indicator 4.2.1: Post-secondary education attainment rate

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Domestic Indicator 4.2.1: Post-secondary education attainment rate (Percentage)

Geography	2021	2022
Canada	66	67
Newfoundland and Labrador	60	65
Prince Edward Island	67	70
Nova Scotia	68	67
New Brunswick	65	66
Quebec	63	63
Ontario	73	74
Manitoba	59	56
Saskatchewan	51	52
Alberta	57	57
British Columbia	67	66
Yukon	52	56
Northwest Territories	33	42
Nunavut	37	32

Source: Educational attainment of the population aged 25 to 64, by age group and sex, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Canada, provinces and territories (statcan.gc.ca)

Global Indicator 4.1.2: Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)

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Global Indicator 4.1.2: Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education) (Percentage)

Year	Total	Male	Female
2016 / 2017	80	76	84
2017 / 2018	81	77	84
2018 / 2019	81	77	85
2019 / 2020	84	81	87
2020 / 2021	84	81	87

Statistics Canada. Table 37-10-0221-01 True cohort high school graduation rate, on-time and extended-time graduation rates, by gender

SDG 5: Gender Equality

Global Indicator 5.5.1: Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments

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Global Indicator 5.5.1: Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (Percentage)

Year	National, Members of Parliament	National, Members of Cabinet	Local, Chiefs in First Nation communities	Local, First Nations council members
2015	25.3	30.8	19.5	30.5
2016	26.1	50	19.7	30.7
2017	27.2	50	18.8	28.6
2018	27	50	20.4	28.2
2019	27.2	48.6	18.5	27.4
2020	29	48.6	N.A.	N.A.
2021	29.4	48.6	N.A.	N.A.
2022	30.6	48.7	N.A.	N.A.

Source: Representation of women and men elected to national Parliament and of ministers appointed to federal Cabinet (statcan.gc.ca), Representation of men and women in First Nation band councils and Chiefs in First Nation communities by sex (statcan.gc.ca)

Global Indicator 5.5.2: Proportion of women in managerial positions

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Global Indicator 5.5.2: Proportion of women in managerial positions (Percentage)

Year	Canada, Total management occupations	Senior management occupations	Specialized middle management occupations	Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services	Middle management occupations in trades, transportation, production and utilities
2015	34.9	30.3	47.0	41.4	17.2
2016	34.7	35.8	46.9	40.1	16.7
2017	34.6	30.9	47.5	38.7	17.6
2018	34.8	33.0	48.2	38.1	18.3
2019	35.2	32.1	51.3	38.8	16.3
2020	35.9	28.6	49.8	39.6	17.5
2021	35.7	30.0	48.9	40.3	17.1
2022	35.3	31.7	47.8	39.9	16.9
2023	35.3	30.0	47.7	38.0	17.7

Source: Labour force characteristics by occupation, annual (statcan.gc.ca)

SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

Domestic Indicator 6.1.1: Number of long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserves

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Domestic Indicator 6.1.1: Number of long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserves

Year	Communities on reserves south of the 60th parallel	Ontario	Saskatchewan	Manitoba
2015	103	60	12	5
2016	97	58	13	5
2017	91	59	10	6
2018	62	43	8	4
2019	56	41	7	3
2020	58	43	8	4
2021	36	27	6	3
2022	32	21	6	3
2023	29	20	5	3

Source: Ending long-term drinking water advisories (sac-isc.gc.ca)

Global Indicator 6.3.1: Proportion of domestic and industrial wastewater flows safely treated

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Proxy for Global Indicator 6.3.1: Proportion of domestic and industrial wastewater flows safely treated (Percentage)

Year	Wastewater discharged from municipal sewage systems in Canada	Wastewater discharged from municipal sewage systems in the Maritime Coastal drainage region	Wastewater discharged from municipal sewage systems in the Pacific Coastal drainage region
2015	98.11	91.53	71.51
2016	98.13	91.50	73.32
2017	98.08	91.20	71.78
2018	98.10	92.47	71.88
2019	98.20	92.48	70.62
2020	98.24	91.69	76.18

Source: Wastewater volumes discharged from municipal sewage systems by treatment category (statcan.gc.ca)

SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

Domestic Indicator 7.2.1: Total energy consumption per capita

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Domestic Indicator 7.2.1: Total energy consumption per capita (Terajoules per capita)

Geography	2021	2022
Canada	0.22	0.22
Newfoundland and Labrador	0.20	0.21
Prince Edward Island	0.15	0.14
Nova Scotia	0.14	0.14
New Brunswick	0.16	0.16
Quebec	0.18	0.19
Ontario	0.16	0.16
Manitoba	0.20	0.21
Saskatchewan	0.48	0.49
Alberta	0.49	0.49
British Columbia	0.17	0.18
Yukon	0.22	0.22
Northwest Territories	0.32	0.34
Nunavut	0.10	0.11

Source: Supply and demand of primary and secondary energy in terajoules, annual (statcan.gc.ca), Population estimates on July 1st, by age and sex (statcan.gc.ca)

Domestic Indicator 7.3.1: Proportion of electricity generated from renewable and non-greenhouse gas emitting sources^{Footnote 24}

Note: Electricity generated from renewable and non-greenhouse gas emitting sources includes energy generated from hydraulic turbines, solar, tidal power turbines, wind power turbines, nuclear steam turbines and all electricity produced from biomass.

Source: Statistics Canada, Monthly Electricity Supply and Disposition Survey

Text description of Figure 14

Domestic Indicator 7.3.1: Proportion of electricity generated from renewable and non-greenhouse gas emitting sources (Percentage)

Geography	2022	2023
Canada	82.04	80.85
Newfoundland and Labrador	97.11	97.87
Prince Edward Island	99.56	99.63
Nova Scotia	27.13	30.95
New Brunswick	64.46	60.96
Quebec	99.63	99.66
Ontario	88.60	86.32
Manitoba	99.92	99.91
Saskatchewan	20.38	19.33
Alberta	16.21	21.39
British Columbia	97.59	97.39
Yukon	88.30	87.25
Northwest Territories	36.45	28.25
Nunavut	0.00	0.05

Source: Electric power generation, monthly generation by type of electricity (statcan.gc.ca)

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Domestic Indicator 8.1.1: Unemployment rate

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Domestic Indicator 8.1.1: Unemployment rate (Percentage)

Geography	2022	2023
Canada, Total population	5.3	5.4
Canada	8.20	8.80
Prince Edward Island	6.70	8.70
Nova Scotia	6.20	5.70
New Brunswick	6.80	9.20
Quebec	7.90	9.40
Ontario	9.70	8.50
Manitoba	6.30	8.40
Saskatchewan	6.60	9.90
Alberta	7.90	9.70
British Columbia	5.80	8.50

Source: Labour force characteristics by immigrant status, annual (statcan.gc.ca)

Global Indicator 8.1.1: Annual growth rate of real GDP per capita

Text description of Figure 16

Global Indicator 8.1.1: Annual growth rate of real GDP per capita (Percentage)

Geography	2021	2022
Canada	4.71	1.96
Newfoundland and Labrador	1.00	-2.52
Prince Edward Island	6.42	-0.25
Nova Scotia	4.77	0.31
New Brunswick	4.28	-1.26
Quebec	6.47	1.33
Ontario	4.81	1.83
Manitoba	0.42	1.70
Saskatchewan	-0.77	5.08
Alberta	4.03	3.16
British Columbia	6.04	1.26
Yukon	6.01	3.63
Northwest Territories	4.19	2.56
Nunavut	7.76	-0.86

Source: Population estimates on July 1st, by age and sex (statcan.gc.ca), Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, provincial and territorial, annual (statcan.gc.ca)

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Domestic Indicator 9.3.1: Proportion of households that have access to broadband Internet service at speeds of 50/10 Mbps

Text description of Figure 17

Domestic Indicator 9.3.1: Proportion of households that have access to broadband Internet service at speeds of 50/10 Mbps (Percentage)

Year	Canada	First Nations reserve areas	Urban centres	Rural areas
2016	84.3	27.3	96.4	38.9
2017	84.1	27.7	96.6	37.2
2018	85.5	31.3	97.4	40.7
2019	87.4	34.8	98.6	45.6
2020	89.7	39.1	99.2	54.4
2021	91.4	43.3	99.2	62
2022	93.1	50.1	99.4	67.4

Source: Communications Market Reports - Current trends - High-speed broadband | CRTC

Domestic Indicator 9.5.1: Greenhouse gas emissions per dollar of value-added from the production of infrastructure assets

Text description of Figure 18

Domestic Indicator 9.5.1: Greenhouse gas emissions per dollar of value-added from the production of infrastructure assets ()Tonnes per thousand dollars)

Year	Total greenhouse gas emissions per dollar of value-added from the production of infrastructure assets	Transport engineering infrastructure	Communications networks	Commercial buildings	Oil and gas engineering construction
2015	0.24	0.312	0.25	0.202	0.252
2016	0.248	0.322	0.257	0.206	0.258
2017	0.241	0.314	0.262	0.203	0.253
2018	0.236	0.306	0.257	0.188	0.24
2019	0.23	0.304	0.233	0.171	0.228
2020	0.234	0.313	0.235	0.17	0.224
2021	0.214	0.289	0.195	0.157	0.212
2022	0.192	0.253	0.169	0.138	0.196

Source: Infrastructure Economic Accounts, Environmental Perspective (statcan.gc.ca)

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

Domestic Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of the population reporting discrimination or unfair treatment

Text description of Figure 19

Domestic Indicator 10.2.1: Police-reported hate crime (Rate per 100,000 population)

Year	Canada	Ottawa, Ontario	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Vancouver, British Columbia
2015	3.8	7.3	1.9	3.1	1.9
2016	3.9	9.5	0.7	2.6	4.6
2017	5.7	9.2	2.6	2.4	2.6
2018	4.9	9.9	4	3.6	6.3
2019	5.2	10.8	1.8	5	4.2
2020	7	16.7	3.8	3.7	8.6
2021	8.8	23.3	3.5	4.6	10.4
2022	9.2	28.3	15	3.2	8.4

Source: Police-reported hate crime, number of incidents and rate per 100,000 population, Census Metropolitan Areas and Canadian Forces Military Police (statcan.gc.ca)

Domestic Indicator 10.3.1: Median hourly wage ratio

Text description of Figure 20

Domestic Indicator 10.3.1: Median hourly wage ratio

Geography	2022	2023
Canada	0.84	0.86
Newfoundland and Labrador	0.82	0.81
Prince Edward Island	1	1.04
Nova Scotia	0.87	0.89
New Brunswick	0.96	0.94
Quebec	0.87	0.88
Ontario	0.84	0.86
Manitoba	0.85	0.87
Saskatchewan	0.83	0.83
Alberta	0.79	0.76
British Columbia	0.82	0.83

Source: Employee wages by occupation, annual (statcan.gc.ca)

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Proxy for Global Indicator 11.1.1: Proportion of urban population in core housing need

Text description of Figure 21

Proxy for Global Indicator 11.1.1: Proportion of urban population in core housing need (Percentage)

Year	Canada	Large urban population centres, Owner	Large urban population centres, Renter
2018	10.1	6	19.4
2021	8.3	3.9	17.6

Source: Core housing need, by tenure including first-time homebuyer and social and affordable housing status (statcan.gc.ca), Households living with housing problems, by select housing-vulnerable populations and affordability, suitability, adequacy and core housing need indicators (statcan.gc.ca)

Domestic Indicator 11.7.1: Percentage of the population aged 12 and over who reported their sense of belonging to their local community as being very strong or somewhat strong

Text description of Figure 22

Domestic Indicator 11.7.1: Percentage of the population aged 12 and over who reported their sense of belonging to their local community as being very strong or somewhat strong

Geography	2021	2022
Canada	69.5	64.5
Newfoundland and Labrador	80.5	74.5
Prince Edward Island	78.1	68.4
Nova Scotia	75.8	69
New Brunswick	76.7	69.9
Quebec	66	59.6
Ontario	69.4	65.4
Manitoba	70.5	67.9
Saskatchewan	76.1	70.2
Alberta	68.3	64.7
British Columbia	70.9	65.3

Source: Health characteristics, annual estimates (statcan.gc.ca)

SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Domestic Indicator 12.1.1: Proportion of new light duty vehicle registrations that are zero-emission vehicles

Text description of Figure 23

Domestic Indicator 12.1.1: Proportion of new light duty vehicle registrations that are zero-emission vehicles (Percentage)

Geography	2022	2023
Canada	8.17	10.77
Prince Edward Island	3.96	7.58
New Brunswick	2.63	4.84
Quebec	12.29	18.58
Ontario	6.50	7.36
Manitoba	2.54	3.50
Saskatchewan	1.64	2.26
British Columbia and the Territories	16.25	20.23

Source: New motor vehicle registrations, quarterly (statcan.gc.ca)

Proxy for Global Indicator 12.4.2: Percentage of households that disposed of hazardous waste, by type of treatment

Text description of Figure 24

Proxy for Global Indicator 12.4.2: Percentage of households that disposed of hazardous waste, by method of disposal

Year	Put dead or unwanted batteries in the garbage	Took or sent dead or unwanted batteries to a depot or drop-off centre	Returned dead or unwanted batteries to a supplier/retailer	Still had dead or unwanted batteries at the time of interview	Did something else with dead or unwanted batteries
2015	22	53	14	19	5
2017	18	53	16	14	5
2019	23	55	11	15	4
2021	21	57	10	17	3

Source: Household hazardous waste (statcan.gc.ca)

SDG 13: Climate Action

Global Indicator 13.1.1: Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population

Text description of Figure 25

Global Indicator 13.1.1: Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population

Rate per 100,000 population	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Number of directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population	50.68	264.06	197.88	43.89	63.83	35.40

Source: Canadian Disaster Database (publicsafety.gc.ca)

The number of directly affected persons, including the number of deaths and missing persons, attributed to disasters, such as storms, floods, wildfire, and tornadoes, per 100,000 population in Canada has decreased since 2015, from 51 per 100,000 population to 35 in 2020. When factoring in persons affected by disruption to utilities, this rate surged to 6,000 per 100,000 in 2015 due to severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and forest fires.

The year 2016 stands out as having the highest recorded number of directly affected persons, reaching 264 per 100,000 population, and a much higher rate of almost 8,000 per 100,000 population when including those affected by utility disruptions. This surge was primarily driven by devastating forest fires that forced the evacuation of 90,000 individuals in Alberta. Additionally, snowstorms, thunderstorms, and floods throughout the year further exacerbated the situation, causing widespread utility disruptions.

In contrast, 2017 saw a significant decrease in the number of directly affected persons, including utility disruptions, dropping to 980 per 100,000 population. However, this trend reversed in 2018, with the rate spiking to 1,123 per 100,000 population as a powerful windstorm in British Columbia caused substantial damage to hydro infrastructure, contributing to this increase. Other meteorological events such as floods and wildfires also led to evacuations and displacement, further affecting the impacted population.

Global Indicator 13.2.2: Total greenhouse gas emissions per year

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Canada have decreased since 2015, from 723 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2 eq) to 670 Mt CO2 eq in 2021. During this period, there was a substantial decrease in 2020, coinciding with a slowdown in economic activity due to COVID-19 pandemic measures.

Text description of Figure 26

Global Indicator 13.2.2: Total greenhouse gas emissions per year (Megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent)

Year	Oil and gas	Transport	Buildings	Electricity	Heavy industry	Agriculture	Waste and others
2015	203.1	162.6	85.3	78.9	80.6	65	47.5
2016	191.5	162.4	84.9	74.3	78	66	48
2017	194	165.4	87.7	72.6	77.3	66.5	48.7
2018	202.5	169.3	92.4	62.7	79.6	68.5	49.6
2019	201.3	170.2	93.3	61.6	78.8	69	49.6
2020	183.4	143.2	89.1	53.7	73.6	69.8	46.1
2021	189.2	150.1	87.2	51.7	76.8	68.5	47

Source: Canada's National Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2021) - Canada.ca

The largest contributors to this total are the Oil and Gas and Transport economic sectors, which together, contributed about half of all GHG emissions in 2021. Following notable decreases in GHG emissions between 2019 and 2020, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, GHG emissions stemming from both the Oil and Gas and Transport sectors subsequently grew in 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, GHG emissions from the Transport sector grew 4.8% to reach 150.1 Mt CO2 eq, which remains well below the 2019 pre-pandemic level of emissions as industries reopened from the pandemic shutdowns or slowdowns. Meanwhile, emissions from the Oil and Gas sector grew 3.2% between 2020 and 2021. Despite this increase, emissions from the Oil and Gas sector remain below 2019 levels while remaining the largest emitting sector by accounting for just over 28% of all GHG emissions in 2021.

Provincially, Alberta accounted for the largest share of GHG emissions in recent years. In 2021, Alberta contributed close to 40% of all GHG emissions in Canada, largely due to the concentration of the Oil and Gas sector in the province, which represented the largest emitting sector nationally. Meanwhile, as the two most populous provinces, Ontario accounted for 22% of emissions, and Quebec followed with just under 12% of emissions.

SDG 14: Life Below Water

Domestic Indicator 14.1.1: Proportion of marine and coastal areas conserved

Text description of Figure 27

Domestic Indicator 14.1.1: Proportion of marine and coastal areas conserved (Percentage)

Year	Proportion of areas conserved
2015	1.2
2016	1.4
2017	7.9
2018	8
2019	13.8
2020	13.9
2021	13.9
2022	14.7

Source: Canada's conserved areas - Canada.ca

Domestic Indicator 14.2.1: Proportion of fish stocks that are sustainably harvested

Text description of Figure 28

Domestic Indicator 14.2.1: Proportion of fish stocks that are sustainably harvested (Percentage)

Year	Proportion of fish stocks that are sustainably harvested
2015	95.6
2016	95.88
2017	95.53
2018	96.05
2019	94.32
2020	98.33
2021	95.31

Source: Harvest levels of key fish stocks - Canada.ca

SDG 15: Life on Land

Domestic Indicator 15.2.1: Proportion of species at risk showing progress towards their population and distribution objectives

Text description of Figure 29

Domestic Indicator 15.2.1: Proportion of species at risk showing progress towards their population and distribution objectives (Percentage)

Year	Proportion of species at risk showing progress towards their population and distribution objectives
2019	42
2021	41
2022	43

Source: Species at risk population trends - Canada.ca

Domestic Indicator 15.3.1: Proportion of terrestrial (land and freshwater) area conserved

Text description of Figure 30

Domestic Indicator 15.3.1: Proportion of terrestrial (land and freshwater) area conserved (Percentage)

Year	Proportion of terrestrial area conserved
2015	10.2
2016	10.2
2017	10.2
2018	11.3
2019	12.1
2020	13
2021	13.5
2022	13.6

Source: Canada's conserved areas - Canada.ca

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Domestic Indicator 16.7.1: Proportion of the population with high levels of confidence in selected institutions

Text description of Figure 31

Domestic Indicator 16.7.1: Proportion of the population with high levels of confidence in selected institutions (Percentage)

Year	Confidence in the Federal Parliament	Confidence in the justice system and courts	Confidence in the police	Confidence in the school system
Total - Q2 2022	33.9	48.7	64.9	50.8
Total - Q2 2023	28	42.1	60.6	43.9
Urban - Q2 2022	35	49.5	64.4	50.7
Urban - Q2 2023	29.2	42.7	60.3	43.7
Rural - Q2 2022	27.7	44.4	67.3	51.5
Rural - Q2 2023	20.8	37.8	63	45.2

Source: Confidence in institutions, by gender and other selected sociodemographic characteristics (statcan.gc.ca)

Between the second quarter of 2022 and the same period in 2023, the proportion of Canadians expressing high levels of confidence in selected institutions declined. More specifically, confidence in several key pillars of society such as the police, justice system and courts, school system, and the Federal Parliament has worsened over this period. For instance, the proportion of individuals with high levels of confidence in the police decreased from 65% in Q2 2022 to 61% in Q2 2023. Similarly, confidence in the justice system and courts decreased from 49% to 42% over the same period. Additionally, confidence in the school system and the Federal Parliament saw decreases, with confidence in the school system falling from 51% to 44%, while confidence in the Federal Parliament decreased from 34% to 28%.

The same declining trend can be observed for both the urban and rural areas of Canada. However, people living in urban areas show different levels of confidence in selected institutions than people living in rural areas. People living in rural areas have more confidence than the urban population in the police (63% in the second quarter of 2023 versus 60.3% for all Canadians) and less confidence in the Federal Parliament with 20.8% compared with 29.2% for the urban residents in the second quarter of 2023. These declines across multiple institutions could suggest a potential erosion of public trust in key pillars of society during this period.

Global Indicator 16.3.2: Unsentenced detainees as a proportion of overall prison population

Between 2014-15 and 2021-22, there was a noticeable upward trend in the percentage of unsentenced detainees within the Canadian prison system, demonstrating a growing proportion of individuals being held in detention prior to sentencing. From 36% in 2014-15, this proportion has consistently increased each subsequent year, reaching 45% in 2021-22.

Text description of Figure 32

Global Indicator 16.3.2: Unsentenced detainees as a proportion of overall prison population (Percentage)

Year	Unsentenced detainees as a proportion of overall prison population
2014-15	35.50
2015-16	38.15
2016-17	39.54
2017-18	39.06
2018-19	39.79
2019-20	41.78
2020-21	40.87
2021-22	44.52

Source: Average counts of adults in provincial and territorial correctional programs (statcan.gc.ca), Average counts of young persons in provincial and territorial correctional services (statcan.gc.ca), Average counts of offenders in federal programs, Canada and regions (statcan.gc.ca)

Among the unsentenced detainees, unsentenced adults constituted most of that population (96%) in 2014-15, with youth accounting for the remaining 4%. The proportion of unsentenced adults in detention grew to 98% in 2021-22. When compared to the overall prison population, unsentenced adults accounted for 34% of the correctional population in 2014-5 and rose to 44% in 2021-22.

SDG 17: Partnership for the Goals

Proxy for Global Indicator 17.3.2: Personal remittances sent to relatives or friends living outside Canada

Personal remittances sent abroad to low- and middle-income countries by residents of Canada totalled $5.2 billion in 2017. Among residents of Canada, almost 40% born in ODA^{Footnote 25}-eligible countries^{Footnote 26} sent money abroad in 2017 through transfers averaging $2,855.

Remittances sent by residents born in Southeast Asia and Oceania accounted for the largest share of money sent abroad in 2017 at 28.9%, followed closely by Southern Asia (26.8%). Meanwhile, money sent by residents born in The Americas accounted for 13.1% of all remittances, while the share of remittances from those born in Sub-Saharan Africa was 11.6%. Residents born in Eastern Europe and Southern Europe (2.6%) and Northern Africa (3.5%) both accounted for the lowest share of the money sent abroad to friends and relatives.

Text description of Figure 33

Proxy for Global Indicator 17.3.2: Personal remittances sent to relatives or friends living outside of Canada (millions of dollars)

Regions	Men	Women
Southeast Asia and Oceania	545	951
Southern Asia	945	441
Americas	371	304
Sub-Saharan Africa	371	231
Eastern Asia	207	144
West Central Asia and the Middle East	236	107
Northern Africa	130	49
Eastern Europe and Southern Europe	84	52

Source: Study on International Money Transfers from Canada (statcan.gc.ca)

Domestic Indicator 17.2.1: Total official support for sustainable development

Text description of Figure 34

Domestic Indicator 17.2.1: Total official support for sustainable development (Millions of dollars)

Regions	2019	2020	2021	2022
Global	1493	1848	1018	2,271
Africa	2654	4550	3838	4,576
Asia	1264	1516	1596	1,821
America	872	1919	1212	1,183
Europe	152	148	230	3,198
Middle East	647	658	649	616
Oceania	47	83	103	131

Source: Canada's International Assistance Data

Canada's total official support for sustainable development (TOSSD) grew 64.2% from 2021 to reach $14.2 billion in 2022. Canada's TOSSD allocation fluctuated among regions as world events caused the need for aid to vary among regions and through the years.

For example, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Canada dedicated additional funds to improve the availability of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics to countries in need. This was observed as TOSSD allocated to Africa increased from $2.7 million in 2019 to $3.8 million in 2021.

More recently, Canada's TOSSD allocated to Europe grew substantially to $3.2 billion in 2022, which is almost 14 times larger than the amount allocated in 2021. The amount of TOSSD allocated to Europe grew from representing the smallest share to the second largest as a response to the exceptional loans to Ukraine to help meet its urgent needs and support its economic stability.