Bill S-211, an Act to Fight Modern Slavery in Supply Chains
After several years of unsuccessful attempts, Canada has passed its first bill to combat modern slavery. Bill S-211, An Act to enact the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act and to amend the Customs Tariff (the “Act”) will require government institutions and private-sector entities to submit reports identifying the risks of modern slavery within their supply chain.
The term “entity” is broadly defined as a business that’s either (a) listed on a stock exchange in Canada or (b) has a place of business in Canada, does business in Canada, or has assets in Canada and meets at least two of the following conditions for at least one of its two most recent financial years:
(i) it has at least $20 million in assets,
(ii) it has generated at least $40 million in revenue, and
(iii) it employs an average of at least 250 employees; or
(iv) is prescribed by regulations.
Starting in 2024, on or before May 31st of each year, the Act provides for an inspection regime applicable to entities and gives the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness the power to require companies to provide an annual report. Each report will be required to include the steps taken in the past financial year that have contributed to preventing and reducing the risk of forced or child labour. The report must also include the following information in respect of each entity subject to the report:
(a) its structure, activities and supply chains;
(b) its policies and its due diligence processes in relation to forced labour and child labour;
(c) the parts of its business and supply chains that carry a risk of forced labour or child labour being used and the steps it has taken to assess and manage that risk;
(d) any measures taken to remediate any forced labour or child labour;
(e) any measures taken to remediate the loss of income to the most vulnerable families that results from any measure taken to eliminate the use of forced labour or child labour in its activities and supply chains;
(f) the training provided to employees on forced labour and child labour; and
(g) how the entity assesses its effectiveness in ensuring that forced labour and child labour are not being used in its business and supply chains.
The Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness will be responsible for maintaining electronic registries of all submitted reports. It is the Minister’s discretion as to the form and manner of publishing; however, the public will be able to view these reports on the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness website.
Though government organizations and business entities previously considered the modern slavery issues, this Act proposes a much more solid structure to ensure that employers are remaining compliant.
Failing to comply with the Act can result in a summary conviction with a maximum fine of $250,000. Any person or entity that commits an offence under the Act and any member who participated in its commission will be considered guilty.