Overview

The pur­pose of Bill S‑211 is to re­duce the use of forced labour and child labour in sup­ply chains by in­creas­ing trans­parency in these sup­ply chains. Specif­i­cally, the bill im­poses re­port­ing oblig­a­tions on gov­ern­ment in­sti­tu­tions and on cer­tain pri­vate en­ti­ties that pro­duce or im­port goods or that con­trol en­ti­ties that do so. The bill re­quires these re­ports to be pub­lic and pro­poses fines for pri­vate en­ti­ties that make false or mis­lead­ing state­ments in their re­ports.

Reporting requirements are mandatory for companies listed on a Canadian stock exchange or is established by having assets, a place of business, or doing business in Canada, and meeting certain thresholds.

The annual report must cover:

• Steps, if any, that the entity has taken in the previous fiscal year to prevent and reduce the risk of forced labour or child labour being used at any step of the production of goods by the entity or of goods imported into Canada by the entity.
• the entity’s structure, activities and supply chains;
• any policies and due diligence processes relating to forced and child labour;
• general summary of the activities that carry a risk of forced or child labour being used, and steps taken to manage such risk;
• remediation efforts, including measures to compensate vulnerable families for lost income;
• relevant training provided to employees on forced or child labour; and
• entity’s assessment of its own effectiveness in ensuring that forced or child labour are not being used in its business and supply chains.

History of Guideline S-211

Amendments under consideration

• None

Related news:

• Parliament Passes Bill S-211: The New Forced Labour and Supply Chain Reporting Law