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On January 1, 2024, 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”) came into effect. The purpose of the Act is to implement practices in Canada to fight against forced labour and child labour through the imposition of annual reporting obligations for certain public and private entities. These reporting obligations apply to:

(a) government institutions producing, purchasing, or distributing goods in Canada or elsewhere; and

(b) private-sector entities that are:

(i) producing, selling or distributing goods in Canada or elsewhere,

(ii) importing into Canada goods produced outside Canada, or

(iii) controlling an entity engaged in either of the above activities.

Under the Act, in the context of a private-sector entity, an entity is defined as a corporation, trust, partnership, or other unincorporated organization (including, but not limited to, unlimited liability corporations, limited partnerships, and royalty trusts) that:

• is listed on a stock exchange in Canada;
• has a place of business in Canada, does business in Canada, or has assets in Canada and, based on its consolidated financial statements, has met at least two of the following three conditions in at least one of its last two financial years:
  • had at least C$20 million in assets
  • generated at least C$40 million in revenue
  • employed an average of at least 250 employees, or
• is prescribed by regulations (although no such regulations exist in relation to entities which would be defined pursuant to the regulation).

It should be noted that since the calculation of (b) above is based on consolidated financial statements, the obligations under the Act may extend to a group of corporations even when the individual members of the group would otherwise not cross the threshold provided.

In order to satisfy the reporting obligations of the Act, the entity to which the Act applies must: (1) prepare an annual report; (2) submit the annual report to the appropriate governing body which has the legal authority to bind the entity, and obtain their approval and attestation; (3) complete a questionnaire on the Public Safety Canada website; (4) upload the annual report, including the attestation of the entity’s governing body, to the Public Safety Canada website and submit it along with the online questionnaire; and (5) publish the annual report to a prominent place on the entity’s website. Once submitted to Public Safety Canada, the annual report will also be published on the Public Safety Canada website, under the section “Catalogues”, which is accessible to the public.

Additionally, if the entity was incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act, or any other act of parliament, the annual report must be provided to the shareholders of the entity, along with its annual financial statements.

Each year, the deadline to submit the annual report to the Minister of Public Safety is May 31^st.

For additional information, please contact:

Morris Szwimer: mszwimer@spiegelsohmer.com, 514-875-7882

Ron Toledano: rtoledano@spiegelsohmer.com, 514-874-9752

Erica Leibovitch: eleibovitch@spiegelsohmer.com, 514-875-8940