On January 1, 2024, Canada’s Parliament passed the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act. This important piece of legislation is a vital response to global concerns about the prevalence of forced and child labour worldwide and helps Canada – and Canadian businesses – meet international treaty obligations, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
As part of the Act, all Canadian businesses over a certain size must submit a report to the federal Minister of Public Safety by May 31 each year, detailing the steps taken to ensure that their business supply chains are free of forced labour or child labour. As part of the Paper Excellence Group, Domtar Corporation and its subsidiaries, which includes Resolute Forest Products Inc., and Paper Excellence Canada Investments Corporation recently submitted their first respective reports.
The Act is an important step, because forced labour can be found in every country and in every part of the global economy. According to the International Labour Organization, there are approximately 27.6 million victims of forced labour worldwide, including 17.3 million in the private sector economy. In Canada, the risk of using goods and resources that may have been produced using forced or child labour occurs primarily through global supply chains. Managing this risk is complex, and requires robust and careful attention to policies, reporting procedures and due diligence, as well as relevant training for the people involved in international procurement.
In their respective reports, Domtar Corporation and Paper Excellence Canada Investments Corporation emphasize the critical role of sound supply- and value-chain management when it comes to their commitments and obligations to human rights. In this year’s reports and based on each of the companies’ ongoing and comprehensive risk assessment processes, Domtar Corporation and Paper Excellence Canada Investments Corporation are confident that the risk of child labour and forced labour within their respective supply chains is low, and no material child and forced labour risks were identified. Despite this, Domtar Corporation and Paper Excellence Canada Investments Corporation will continue to assess the effectiveness of all of their respective tools, policies and procedures when it comes to making sure that all of their respective suppliers are meeting the very highest standards when it comes to human and labour rights worldwide.
To learn more, read the “Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act” reports here: Domtar Corporation and Paper Excellence Canada Investments Corporation.
