2023 Reports 6 to 10 of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to the Parliament of Canada Report 10—Environmental Petitions Annual Report

2023 Reports 6 to 10 of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to the Parliament of Canada

Report 10—Environmental Petitions Annual Report

Report 10—Environmental Petitions Annual Report

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Environmental petitions are a unique way for Canadian residents—acting as individuals or on behalf of an organization—to bring their concerns and questions about environmental and sustainable development issues to the attention of the federal ministers responsible and be guaranteed a response from them. The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development administers the environmental petitions process on behalf of the Auditor General of Canada.

The purpose of this annual report is to inform Parliament and Canadians about the number, nature, and status of petitions and responses received during the reporting period, 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, as required by section 23 of the Auditor General Act.

2022–23 Results

Petitions received

The OAG received 28 environmental petitions during the reporting period. For the titles of petitions and provinces of origin, please refer to the list of 2022–23 petitions received.

In total, 24 federal departments and agencies received petitions requesting a response. In many cases, a petition was sent to more than 1 department or agency. The 5 organizations that received the most petitions were

  • Environment and Climate Change Canada (14 petitions)
  • Health Canada (12 petitions)
  • Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (7 petitions)
  • National Capital Commission (5 petitions)
  • Transport Canada (5 petitions)

Key issues raised

Petitions submitted during the reporting period addressed a wide variety of environmental concerns and issues, including the monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions, construction activities, electromagnetic hypersensitivity, and pesticide use.

Departmental and agency performance and responses

During the reporting period, 22 departments and agencies responded to 16 petitions.

2022–23 Petitions Received

Ontario

Visit our Environmental Petitions web page for more information about past petitions, case studies, and the petitions process, as well as to search the petitions dashboard.