About the 2026-2029 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy

As mandated in the Federal Sustainable Development Act, Environment and Climate Change Canada, with support from other federal departments, must establish Federal Sustainable Development Strategies to advance three dimensions of sustainable development (environmental, social, and economic) on three year intervals.

On January 12, 2026, the government opened a 4-month-long public consultation seeking feedback on the Draft Federal Sustainable Development Strategy. The final Strategy is expected to be published in the House of Commons in November 2026.

Key Themes of Shake Up The Establishment’s Feedback

Members of Shake Up The Establishment’s Policy and Research Team completed a line-by-line analysis of the Draft Strategy, and submitted all of our comments to Environment and Climate Change Canada. We submitted feedback advocating for: 

• a visible commitment to creating prosperous, fulfilling and holistically healthy lives for all people living in Canada, over narrowly prioritizing economic prosperity agendas
• stronger upstream, preventative environmental policies and climate-related regulations over performative resiliency-building commitments; to help ensure upstream climate related-impacts are minimized as much as possible before communities are forced to adapt to them
• co-developing concrete actions across the Strategy in consultation with structurally vulnerable and marginalized groups who are disproportionately impacted by environmental pollution and climate-related impacts, including investing in trust-building with communities impacted by racism, colonialism, and discrimination who face increased barriers towards participating in such processes
• increased transparency about enforceability and accountability mechanisms for the implementation of the Strategy, including by ensuring that all strategies mentioned are legally enforceable; If the government truly cares about reaching climate adaptation objectives “in a fair, inclusive, and equitable way, while respecting jurisdictions and upholding Indigenous Peoples’ rights,” then legally-binding immediate climate action needs to occur