As businesses finalize their reports under the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act the Act in advance of the May 31, 2024, statutory deadline, Public Safety Canada has updated its administrative guidance to clarify certain technical requirements, while also sowing confusion in respect of the basic question of which entities have reporting obligations under the Act. Public Safety Canada revised its guidance for Entities, originally issued in December 2023, on March 5, and March 20, 2024, and also added a page for answers to top questions and other amendments on March 5. A separate section was also added to the guidance website on March 13, 2024, to address the reporting obligations of government institutions.
On March 26, 2024, the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise CORE published a final report on its investigation into allegations that a Canadian mining company, Dynasty Gold Corporation Dynasty, operating in China s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region XUAR used or benefitted from forced labour. Following its investigation, the CORE concluded that the mining company violated internationally recognized human rights and made several recommendations as a result.
On December 20, 2023, Public Safety Canada issued long-awaited guidance that provides details of the reporting requirements introduced in the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act formerly Bill S-211. Government institutions and private sector organizations that meet the definition of entity under the Supply Chains Act see our previous blog, Canada Introduces Mandatory Forced Labour Prevention Reporting Legislation will have to 1 prepare a report that is to be uploaded to a government registry and also posted on the entity s website; and 2 respond to an online questionnaire that aligns with the various supplementary information specified in the Act. The first reporting deadline is quickly approaching, with first reports due by May 31, 2024.
Ashley White and Sabrina A. Bandali are winners of Lexpert Rising Star awards for 2023. This prestigious award honours Canada s leading lawyers under 40 from law firms, in-house departments and other practices. This year s Rising Stars were announced at a gala event in Toronto on November 23.
On July 11, 2023, the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise announced the launch of two separate investigations into allegations that Uyghur forced labour was used in the supply chains and operations of two Canadian companies.