Performance reporting is important because it provides information, acts as an accountability tool, provides an opportunity to showcase our successes and gives us the incentive to improve.

This report represents the second annual report on sustainable development for our organization.It provides management and employees with information about how we are doing in meeting the commitments we set out to achieve our 1997 sustainable development strategy.

Our second report differs from our first report in one significant way:the results are supported, in part, by an independent review by outside audit professionals, as well as a comprehensive, internal management review.

The starting point for our performance report is the commitments that branches and regions have set in the Sustainable Development Strategy. The commitments become the basis of performance agreements between various levels of management.

Progress on the SD commitments is monitored by the branch or region and reported annually to the SD Division, Real Property and Sustainable Development Directorate, Finance and Administration Branch which is the Office of Primary Interest for SD in the CCRA.

The results are summarized and presented to Parliamentarians and interested Canadians in the Departmental Performance Report/Annual Report.They are provided in greater detail for management, employees, and other interested parties, in this Performance Report on Sustainable Development.

Audits are used as a means of verifying our performance and ensuring continual improvement.At any level, managers can expect that during the course of a regular internal audit of their program or operation, they may be expected to respond to questions related to their SD commitments or performance.

Components of the SD program and strategy are also reviewed and/or audited by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD) in the Office of the Auditor General.