Blog 3

Canada’s efforts to limiting the publics consumption and reduction has been making steady progress for the economy and society. Their efforts so far consist of including labelling programs, consumer education and awareness, sustainable production tools such as lean manufacturing, design for environment, extended producer responsibility, and technology road maps, sustainable agricultural production, green buildings, and sustainable communities. It is also said that the Canadian government is active in promoting sustainable tourism, distribution and retailing practices. (United Nations 2019)

These efforts are all steps in a “greener” direction for the country. With their being consumer and producer education, they can come up with healthier ways of production that won’t be as harmful to the environment or how to properly dispose of what they buy. As for the sustainable tourism, the Canadian government has partnered with the Tourism Industry Association of Canada in hopes of “developing a toolkit for tourism operators… which provides practical tips and guidance to help the tourism industry adopt sustainable practices.” (United Nations 2019)

According to Food Secure Canada (FSC), as of last year, the government has made further efforts to produce food that is grown and produced sustainably. They have also studied the trends of how people who have lower incomes buy their food, and made further efforts to increase the access of these foods for this particular population. (FSC 2019)

Some partnerships the Canadian government has made is the Computers for Schools program partnering with the industrial side of Canada in which computers can be recycled and donated to others for use. This decreases the amount of e-waste which is extremely harmful when they make it to the landfills as they can contaminate the soil as they decompose. As of 2002, there has been over 53 million pounds of e-waste that have been diverted from landfills because of this program. (United Nations 2019)

In recent years, Canada has started enforcing stricter policies, laws and frameworks to protect the environment and support sustainable development. They will be held accountable by their partnerships they have made and new eco-efficient programs along with many more.

With the enactment of these incentives and laws, there will hopefully be a decline in harmful environmental factors thusly minimizing the problems of climate change. Since Canada is a high-income country, sustainability in consumption and production is likely to be a more significant problem opposed to smaller countries who don’t produce as much.

FSC. (2019, September 24). [Research Report] Sustainable Consumption for All: Improving the accessibility of sustainably-produced foods in Canada. Retrieved from https://foodsecurecanada.org/sustainable-consumption-for-all

United Nations. (2019). Canada National Reporting to CSD- 18/19 Thematic Profile: Sustainable Consumption and Production. Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/dsd/dsd_aofw_ni/ni_pdfs/NationalReports/canada/SCP.pdf