On March 5, 2024, Public Safety Canada ("PSC") amended the Guidance for entities (the "Guidance"), which was originally published in December 2023 (the "December 2023 Guidance") and updated in January 2024 to provide additional guidance to entities that need to submit a report under the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act (the "Act"). Miller Thomson published a summary of the December 2023 Guidance when it was initially published.
The substantial changes that PSC made to the December 2023 Guidance include:
- Removal in the Guidance of any reference to "selling or distributing" goods when discussing the interpretation of Section 9(a) of the Act, emphasizing that "production and importation" are the activities captured by the Act;
- Confirmation that some provincial crown corporations may be targeted by the Act subject to them being "entities," as such term is defined in section 2 of the Act;
- Clarification that the questionnaire may be used as a resource when preparing the report, rather than a template;
- Indication that entities who plan to report in both official languages will need to file two separate PDF files;
- Addition of guidance confirming that entities can include visual aids in their reports;
- Clarification that the limit of 10 pages for the length of the report is a recommendation only, while its size not exceeding 100MB is a requirement; and
- Highlighting the fact that the May 31 deadline to submit a report and the questionnaire does not necessarily apply to the posting by a reportable entity of its annual report on its website, which can be done promptly following its submission with PSC.
The Guidance remains a resource for organizations to determine whether they are reporting entities and to obtain recommendations about drafting a report. The provisions contained in the December 2023 Guidance and its recent amendments which are not reflected in the text of the Act do not have force of law.
Miller Thomson has developed a Practical Guide addressed to reporting entities to help gather information required to complete their annual report and has developed a toolkit which includes a supplier code of conduct, a sample human slavery statement, due diligence guidance, training material and a procurement personnel guide that can be used by reporting entities to establish or strengthen their forced labour and child labour compliance program.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
