The Government of Canada announced the launch of new proposed legislation aimed at strengthening its ban on imports of goods produced with forced labor, introducing new requirements for companies importing high-risk goods to provide enhanced supply chain tracing, and banning goods unless information requirements are met.
The introduction of the new legislation follows the publication of a report by the U.S. government’s United States Trade Representative (USTR), listing Canada as one of the U.S.’ trading partners that have failed to effectively enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, and recommending the establishment of a 10% duty on imports from Canada as a result.
The new legislation would replace Canada’s current forced labor import prohibition, introduced in 2020 as part of Canada’s commitments under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
Despite the presence of the current legislation, however, the USTR report found that “Canada is failing to effectively enforce its forced labor import prohibition,” and that “the number of enforcement actions Canada has taken to prevent the entry of forced labor goods is minimal.” According to the report, since introducing the legislation, Canada intercepted only 50 shipments, and prohibited only 2 from entry, over 6 years for suspicion of forced labor, compared to more than 6,000 shipments denied entry into the U.S. by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in 2024 alone.
In a statement announcing the introduction of the new legislation, the government said that the new measures will “strengthen Canada’s alignment with international efforts to uphold human rights around the world and eradicate forced labour from global supply chains.”
Key elements of the new legislation include providing the government with the ability to establish a list of high-risk goods, identified by region, entity, or individual, where there are reasonable grounds to suspect they are produced by forced labor, and the establishment of requirements for importers of high-risk goods to provide enhanced supply chain tracing information. In addition, the legislation would introduce a “deeming provision,” which would deem goods identified as high-risk as prohibited from importation unless the mandatory information requirements are met, and would also create a cost-recovery model when importers are found to have imported goods made using forced labor.
Anita Anand, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said:
“This legislation strengthens our commitment to human rights and fair, transparent trade by giving us stronger tools to stop these goods at the border and protect the integrity of our supply chains. It also supports vulnerable workers and aligns Canada with global efforts to eliminate forced labour from international trade.”
