Canada Introduces New Legislation to Strengthen Forced Labor Import Ban
The federal government introduced a bill on Friday to overhaul how Canada bans imports of products made with forced labor, following an American tariff threat.
Foreign Minister Anita Anand was in Paris with Prime Minister Mark Carney when her parliamentary secretary Rob Oliphant introduced the legislation.
“This will be a Canadian-made solution to an international problem,” he told reporters on Parliament Hill.
Oliphant said the bill would create a public list of products linked to forced labor in certain regions, based on findings from embassies and other authorities.
The bill requires importers to prove that certain products from the listed regions were not produced through slavery.
He said Bill C-35 was intended to address the concerns of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration is considering new tariffs against Canada and other countries on imports made using forced labor.
Shift in Enforcement Approach
The legislation would depart from the current practice of Canadian officials inspecting containers. Instead, Oliphant said, officials would be presented with a list of higher-risk products for inspection.
The bill also aims to bring Canada into line with Mexico and the rules the European Union is currently drafting.
“We don’t want to see cheaper materials and cheaper goods made with forced labor being dumped into Canada,” Oliphant said.
The bill requires consideration and consultation and is expected to be voted on by the House of Commons next week in the summer.
Political Reactions
Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett said he would review the legislation but criticized the government for previously saying the existing system had stamped out products of slavery.
“They’re introducing legislation and saying they’re going to do exactly what they say they’ve already done,” he told reporters on Friday before Oliphant introduced the bill.
Oliphant insisted that the bill was not introduced solely because of American pressure. He said the Liberals had promised changes in late 2024 – just before then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suspended Parliament and resigned.
“That’s not the main reason we’re doing this now,” he said of American tariffs.
Background on Forced Labor Enforcement
As part of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement, Ottawa in 2020 amended the wording of a forced labor customs law to ban the importation of goods “mined, manufactured or produced, in whole or in part, by forced labor,” bringing Canadian tariffs in line with CUSMA rules.
But the White House says there is little evidence that Canada has tightened enforcement.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s office recently recommended an additional 10 percent tariff rate for several countries – including Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom – claiming they were not doing enough to enforce domestic bans on forced labor.
The Trump administration must initiate further public consultations before imposing the tariff. Carney said last week that Canada already has a very strict forced labor regime but would introduce legislation to crack down even further.
Advocates have long argued that Canada does a poor job of enforcing existing rules intended to ban products made through slavery, a point Carney acknowledged Thursday.
“We have… a very strong framework and responsibilities – legal frameworks and standards and responsibilities. We have been… less effective in fully enforcing those, and some of that has to do with the legal structuring of responsibilities, some of it has to do with resources,” he told reporters in Toronto.
Enforcement Statistics and Criticism
A recent report from Greer’s office said the Canada Border Services Agency appears to be not releasing official information about its enforcement efforts, citing numbers that suggest enforcement is weak.
The report also cited an analysis by the Coalition Against Forced Labor that found Canadian border officials intercepted only 50 shipments on suspicion of forced labor and only two shipments were turned away.
CBSA said it has intercepted and detained 50 shipments since 2020 due to concerns about forced labor. Two shipments were found to have been produced using forced labor – a shipment of textiles from 2024 and another shipment of frozen seafood from 2025.
Former Liberal MP John McKay, who championed a 2023 law banning slave products, has pointed out that the US is allowing private companies to produce exports using prison labor. He has accused the Trump administration of neglecting to enforce a law to eradicate Uyghur forced labor from China.
Advocates have accused Ottawa of failing to adequately enforce its 2023 legislation. Although Ottawa can impose fines and initiate investigations under the law, it has not used it to access private companies’ records or impose penalties for non-compliance.
Changes to Human Rights Oversight
On Thursday, Carney and his government eliminated a regulator responsible for investigating allegations of human rights abuses by Canadian companies abroad.
The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), introduced under the Trudeau government, was tasked with investigating potential abuses, including the use of forced labor. Carney said the office has not been effective.
However, on March 25, Foreign Minister Anita Anand said the position “continues to be important” and indicated that work was underway to fill the position. The UN Human Rights Committee has called on Ottawa to do this.
In March, the government was criticized for not directly stating whether forced labor for Uyghurs exists in China.
This month, Energy Minister Tim Hodgson said the Liberals opposed forced labor but were “focused on where we agree” with China, adding that Ottawa could discuss human rights with Beijing behind closed doors.
Beijing vehemently denies claims that it uses Uyghurs for forced labor, arguing that China has confronted the threats of terrorism while providing economic opportunities to minority populations.
– With files from Kyle Duggan and Craig Lord.
