Question Period Note: Canada's Implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals

With five years remaining in the 2030 Agenda and 35% of SDG targets on track or making moderate progress globally, should Canada still use the SDGs as a framework for development?

• The 2030 Agenda remains the most comprehensive framework for action across the economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainable development, helping to build resilience and ensure that no one is left behind.
• Although progress on a number of SDGs is off track, there has been important progress globally. Since 2015, 110 million more children have entered school, internet connectivity has increased by 70%, and universal electricity access has been achieved in 45 countries.
• Canada continues to provide leadership on the SDGs. For example, in 2023-2024, Canada's support to the Global Partnership for Education helped 120 million students worldwide access education.
• Advancing the SDGs requires meaningful collaboration, inclusive policies, and long-term commitment. Canada remains dedicated to building a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable future for all.
• Canada's Federal Implementation Plan ensures a whole-of-government approach to the SDGs by aligning actions, reinforcing policy coherence, and strengthening accountability, supported by ongoing progress monitoring and gap identification.

In 2015, UN member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which represents an ambitious global framework centred on a set of 17 interrelated and indivisible Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Canada's whole-of-society engagement to advance the SDGs is guided by its 2030 Agenda National Strategy, Moving Forward Together, which was launched in February 2021. Along with this National Strategy, a Federal Implementation Plan and a Canadian Indicator Framework (CIF) was launched in 2021 to track progress. Canada presented its second Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the July 2023 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) which provided an update on progress made since Canada's first VNR in 2018, including challenges and lessons learned. Canada will present its third VNR to the UN in July 2027.

The compounding effects of conflicts, climate change, low economic growth, and the COVID-19 pandemic have stalled or reversed hard-won progress on development indicators in many countries, jeopardizing the prospects of achieving the SDGs by 2030. According to the UN, 35% of SDG targets are on track or making moderate progress. Concurrently, support for international development is in a state of flux globally, as fiscal constraints and changing priorities have led to budget reductions and changes in approach for many traditional donors.

The Government of Canada leverages its international assistance, trade, and diplomacy efforts to help advance the SDGs. In doing so, it reinforces Canada's objectives of strengthening a rules-based international system, supporting lasting peace and security, fostering prosperity, and advancing human rights. Canada's international implementation of the 2030 Agenda places a strong emphasis on SDGs that can act as multipliers, most notably SDG 5 (Gender Equality) which is recognized as both a standalone objective and a driver of progress across all other SDGs. As a global leader in advancing SDG 5, Canada has been ranked by the OECD among the top global donors for support to gender equality and efforts to combat sexual and gender-based violence.

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