Canada to End Ombudsperson Role for Corporate Conduct Abroad While Planning Stronger Forced-Labour Import Rules

Prime Minister Mark Carney stated on Thursday that the Canadian government is eliminating the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise position. The role was created in 2019 under former prime minister Justin Trudeau to investigate allegations of human rights violations, including the use of forced labour, by Canadian companies operating abroad.

Carney said the decision was taken a few months ago.

He defended the move by noting that only one of the five investigations launched by the office resulted in recommendations to a company. "Part of government is to look at things and see whether or not they're effective and try to improve it," Carney said at an unrelated news conference.

" Documents tabled in the House of Commons on Wednesday recorded the five investigations and single set of recommendations.

The CORE role has been vacant for more than one year, though its website remains online. The vacancy surfaced in recent months as Canada lifted some restrictions on the importation of Chinese-made electric vehicles. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne pointed to the CORE as an example of Canada taking the issue of forced labour seriously ahead of a trip to China in March.

U.S. launched its own investigation into Canada's enforcement mechanisms regarding forced labour in March. The Trump administration announced last week that it would impose tariffs on Canada and other countries for allegedly lacking effective enforcement rules around goods made with forced labour.

The Canadian government is expected to table legislation on Friday to enhance enforcement to keep goods made with forced labour out of the Canadian supply chain.