What is Canada doing to crack down on goods produced using forced labour?
Corporate watchdog to investigate Nike, Dynasty Gold over allegations they benefited from forced Uyghur labour
Canada's corporate watchdog announced Tuesday it would launch an investigation into two companies over allegations that they benefited from slave Uyghur labour, shining a spotlight on the country's approach to preventing the use of forced labour.
Sheri Meyerhoffer, the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), says she has enough to launch an investigation into allegations that Nike Canada and Canadian gold mining company Dynasty Gold are benefiting from the forced labour of Uyghurs in China.
Advocates have called for better enforcement of Canadian law when it comes to the use of forced labour to produce goods. Since Canada introduced its first law to fight forced labour in 2020, it has intercepted just one shipment of goods linked to such practices. The Canada Border Services Agency says that shipment, too, was released after an appeal from the operator.
Here is a look at what Canada has done to prevent the use of forced labour, the challenges of enforcement and how international approaches vary.
Who are the Uyghurs?
According to Global Affairs Canada, more than one million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities are being imprisoned in China, because of their religion and ethnicity.
Human Rights Watch says at least one million Uyghur and other Muslims in Xinjiang have been arbitrarily detained in what China calls "re-education" or "vocational training" camps, in prisons or "pre-trial detention" facilities.
China routinely denies accusations, including from Canada's House of Commons, that its treatment of Uyghurs amounts to genocide.
The Chinese government began its campaign against what it described as extremists and terrorism in 2014 after a series of violent attacks it blamed on Uyghur extremists or separatists.
A 2022 report by the United Nations said China may have committed crimes against humanity.
How has Canada responded?
In 2021, Canadian MPs passed a motion saying China's treatment of the Uyghur population and other Turkic Muslim minority groups amounted to a genocide, according to the definition set out in the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
The motion — which passed 266 to 0 — was supported by all opposition parties and a handful of lawmakers from the governing Liberal Party. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and most of his cabinet were absent for the vote.
The Integrity Declaration of Doing Business with Xinjiang Entities, first introduced in July 2020, required Canadian companies to file declarations they are not directly or indirectly sourcing products from Chinese entities implicated in forced labour or other human rights violations related to Xinjiang.
But according to the Supply Chain Risk Report 2023, released in January by aid agency World Vision Canada, statistically 7.5 per cent (or one in every 13) imported products that come into Canada could be made by an enslaved labourer.
In May this year, the government introduced Bill S-211, which will impose significant reporting obligations on Canadian businesses and importers and is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Businesses that meet certain thresholds will be required to file detailed public reports on measures they have taken to identify, address and prevent forced labour, prison labour and child labour in their supply chains. The first of these reports is due to be filed on or before May 31, 2024.
How is it determined if forced labour is used?
After almost two decades of advocacy by civil society organizations and discussions between the Canadian government and stakeholders on ways to meet the commitment of upholding responsible business conduct, the Trade Ministry announced the creation of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) office in January 2018.
In CORE's first annual report, released in 2021, Meyerhoffer, the ombudsman, said it was "the first ombud office in the world with a focused mandate to hold garment, mining, and oil and gas companies accountable for their human rights actions in operations abroad."
Tuesday's announcement marks the first time CORE will investigate companies allegedly using forced labour to produce goods.
Separately, the value of Canadian imports of everyday products at risk of being produced by child or forced labour has increased to $48 billion as of 2021, according to World Vision Canada's January report.
The report uses a 2022 list from the U.S. Department of Labour that includes 159 goods from 78 countries an areas with documented risks of child or forced labour. The U.S. list is backed by the International Labour Organization and UNICEF.
World Vision's report shows a surge of more than 50 per cent of such risky goods getting into Canada from 2011 to 2021 — this includes a 71 per cent increase in electronics to $22.1 billion, a 67 per cent increase in clothing to $10.7 billion, and more than 869 per cent increase in imports of protective rubber gloves to more than $800 million.
"Our challenges to put food on the table and clothing on our backs may be supporting just some of the many products Canadians buy every day that are touched by a child labourer somewhere," Michael Messenger, president of World Vision Canada, wrote in a statement released with the report.
How Canada previously dealt with forced labour
Canada's first attempt to address forced labour came in 2020 after the renegotiation of North America's trilateral trade deal.
The Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) was adopted to replace the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. Its labour provisions mean the three North American countries are not only required to ensure fair labour practices within their respective trade industries, but also to actively introduce measures that ban the import of goods produced using forced labour.
While the U.S. already had regulations banning the import of goods made by forced labour in the Tariffs Act when CUSMA was being negotiated, Canada and Mexico did not.
But in February 2020, Canada introduced the Modern Slavery Act, which was meant to compel companies to report their efforts to prevent the use of forced labour or child labour.
While they share the same humanitarian goal of eradicating forced labour, the other bills introduced in Canada, including Bill S-211, impose reporting obligations on private companies and require transparency in the supply chain, but have no direct effect on the flow of goods in and out of the country.
What about the U.S.?
In the United States, anything coming from Xinjiang is considered to be made with the help of forced labour. The Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA) signed into law on Dec. 23, 2021, is an amendment to the Tariff Act of 1930.
The law's scope is not limited to products coming from Xinjiang, but also gives state-authorized powers to the Forced Labour Enforcement Task Force to curate a list of entities that collaborate with the Chinese government in the repression of Uyghurs.
Any merchandise from companies on the list, even if it wasn't made in Xinjiang, is also considered to have been made with forced labour until proven otherwise.
Since UFLPA became law in 2020, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection department says it has targeted 3,237 shipments under the law, denying entry to 424 of them.
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