Bill
S-216
If you have any questions or comments regarding the accessibility of this publication, please contact us at accessible@parl.gc.ca.
First Reading
LEGISinfo
Bilingual view
XML
PDF
Skip to Document Navigation
Skip to Document Content
ENGLISHSUMMARYSUMMARYPreamblePreamble1 Short Title1 Short Title2 Interpretation2 Interpretation3 Purpose of Act3 Purpose of Act4 Her Majesty4 Her Majesty5 Application5 Application7 Reporting Obligation7 Reporting Obligation10 Administration and
Enforcement10 Administration and
Enforcement11 Designated Person’s Powers11 Designated Person’s Powers14 Order — Corrective Measures14 Order — Corrective Measures15 Regulations15 Regulations16 Offences and Punishment16 Offences and Punishment19 Report to Parliament19 Report to Parliament20 Review of the Act20 Review of the Act21 Customs Tariff21 Customs Tariff22 Coming into Force22 Coming into ForceEXPLANATORY NOTESEXPLANATORY NOTES
Second Session, Forty-third Parliament,
69 Elizabeth II, 2020
SENATE OF CANADA
BILL S-216
An Act to enact the Modern Slavery Act and to amend the Customs Tariff
FIRST READING, October 29, 2020
THE HONOURABLE SENATOR Miville-Dechêne
4321926
SUMMARY
This enactment enacts the Modern Slavery Act, which imposes an obligation on certain entities to report on the measures taken
to prevent and reduce the risk that forced labour or child labour
is used at any step in the production of goods in Canada or elsewhere by the entity or in the production of goods imported into Canada. The Act
provides for an inspection regime and gives the Minister the
power to require an entity to provide certain information.
This enactment also amends the Customs Tariff to allow for a
prohibition on the importation of goods manufactured or produced,
in whole or in part, by forced labour or child labour as those terms are defined in the Modern Slavery Act.
Available on the Senate of Canada website at the following address:
www.sencanada.ca/en
2nd Session, 43rd Parliament, 
69 Elizabeth II, 2020
SENATE OF CANADA
BILL S-216
An Act to enact the Modern Slavery Act and to amend the Customs Tariff
Preamble
Whereas forced labour and child labour are forms of
modern slavery;
Whereas Canada, as a party to the eight fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization on fundamental labour rights — including the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, adopted in Geneva on June 28, 1930; the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957, adopted in Geneva on June 25, 1957; and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999, adopted at Geneva on June 17, 1999 — is determined to contribute to the fight against modern slavery;
And whereas Parliament considers that it is essential
to contribute to the fight against modern slavery
through the imposition of reporting obligations on
entities involved in the manufacture, production,
growing, extraction or processing of goods in Canada or elsewhere or in the importation of goods
manufactured, produced, grown, extracted or processed
outside Canada;
Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
Short Title
Short title
1 This Act may be cited as the Modern Slavery Act.
Interpretation
Definitions
2 The following definitions apply in this Act.
child labour means labour or service provided or offered to be provided, in Canada, by persons under the age of 18 years under circumstances that
(a) are contrary to the laws applicable in Canada or, if provided or offered to be provided outside Canada, under circumstances that, if provided or offered to be provided in Canada, would be contrary to the laws applicable
in Canada; or
(b) constitute the worst forms of child labour as defined in article 3 of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999, adopted at Geneva on June 17, 1999. (travail
des enfants)
entity means a corporation or a trust, partnership or other unincorporated organization that
(a) is listed on a stock exchange in Canada;
(b) has a place of business in Canada, does business in
Canada or has assets in Canada and that, based on its
consolidated financial statements, meets at least two of the following conditions for at least one of its two
most recent financial years:
(i) it has at least $20 million in assets,
(ii) it has generated at least $40 million in revenue,
(iii) it employs an average of at least 250 employees; or
(c) is prescribed by regulations. (entité)
forced labour means labour or service provided or offered to be provided by a person under circumstances that
(a) could reasonably be expected to cause the person to believe their safety or the safety of a person known to them would be threatened if they failed to provide or offer to provide the labour or service; or
(b) constitute forced or compulsory labour as defined in article 2 of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, adopted in Geneva on June 28, 1930. (travail forcé)
Minister means the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. (ministre)
production of goods includes the manufacturing, growing, extraction and processing of goods. (production de marchandises)
Purpose of Act
Purpose
3 The purpose of this Act is to implement Canada’s
international commitment to contribute to the fight against modern slavery through the imposition of reporting
obligations on entities involved in the production of goods in
Canada or elsewhere or in the importation of goods
produced outside Canada.
Her Majesty
Binding on Her Majesty
4 This Act is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada
or a province.
Application
Entities
5 This Act applies to any entity
(a) that produces or sells goods in Canada or elsewhere;
(b) that imports into Canada goods
produced outside
Canada; or
(c) that controls an entity enaged in any activity described in paragraph (a)
or (b).
Control
6 (1) Subject to the regulations, an entity is controlled by another entity if it is controlled by the other entity directly or indirectly, in any manner.
Deemed control
(2) An entity that controls another entity is deemed to
control any entity that is controlled or deemed to be controlled by the other entity.
Reporting Obligation
Annual report
7 (1) Every entity must, no later than 180 days after the end of each financial year, provide the Minister with a report that sets out the steps the entity has taken during that year to prevent and reduce the risk that forced labour or child labour is used at any step of the production of goods in
Canada or elsewhere by the entity or of goods imported
into Canada by the entity.
Supplementary information
(2) In the report, the entity must also include information
respecting
(a) its structure and the goods that it produces in
Canada or elsewhere or that it imports into Canada;
(b) its policies in relation to forced labour
and child labour;
(c) its activities that carry a risk of forced
labour or child labour being used and the steps it has
taken to assess and manage that risk;
(d) any measures taken to remediate any forced
labour or child labour; and
(e) the training provided to employees on forced
labour and child labour.
Attestation
(3) The report is to include an attestation, made by a director or officer of the entity, that the information in the
report is true, accurate and complete.
Form and manner
(4) The Minister may specify, in writing, the form and
manner in which a report is to be provided. The requirements must be made available to the public in the manner that the Minister considers appropriate.
Accessibility of report
8 An entity must, on providing the Minister with a report
in accordance with section 7, make the report available
to the public, including by publishing it in a prominent
place on its website.
Electronic registry
9 (1) The Minister must maintain an electronic registry containing a copy of every report provided to the Minister under section 7.
Accessibility of registry
(2) The registry must be made available to the public on the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness website.
Administration and
Enforcement
Designation
10 The Minister may designate persons or classes of persons
for the purposes of the administration and enforcement
of this Act.
Designated Person’s Powers
Entry into a place
11 (1) A designated person may, for the purpose of
verifying compliance with this Act, enter any place where they have reasonable grounds to believe there
is anything to which this Act applies or any document relating
to the administration of this Act.
Powers on entry
(2) The designated person may, for the purpose referred
to in subsection (1),
(a) examine anything in the place, including any document;
(b) use any means of communication in the place, or cause it to be used;
(c) use any computer system in the place — or cause it
to be used — to examine data contained in or available
to it, or reproduce the data — or cause it to be reproduced —
in the form of a printout or other intelligible output and remove any printout or output for examination
or copying;
(d) prepare a document based on the data, or cause one to be prepared;
(e) use any copying equipment in the place, or cause it to be used;
(f) take photographs or make recordings or sketches
of anything in the place;
(g) direct any person to put any equipment in the
place into operation or to cease operating it;
(h) prohibit or limit access to all or part of the place or
to anything in the place; and
(i) remove anything from the place for the purpose of
examination.
Persons accompanying designated person
(3) The designated person may be accompanied by any person whom they believe is necessary to help them exercise
their powers or perform their duties or functions
under this section.
Assistance
(4) The owner or person in charge of the place and every
person in the place must give all assistance that is reasonably
required to enable the designated person to exercise
their powers or perform their duties or functions under
this section and is to provide any documents, information or access to any data that is reasonably required
for that purpose.
Warrant to enter dwelling-house
12 (1) If the place referred to in subsection 11(1) is a
dwelling-house, the designated person may enter it without
the occupant’s consent only under the authority of a
warrant issued under subsection (2).
Authority to issue warrant
(2) On ex parte application, a justice of the peace may
issue a warrant authorizing the designated person to enter
a dwelling-house, subject to any conditions specified
in the warrant, if the justice is satisfied by information on oath that
(a) the dwelling-house is a place referred to in subsection
11(1);
(b) entry to the dwelling-house is necessary for a purpose
related to verifying compliance with this Act; and
(c) entry was refused by the occupant or there are reasonable
grounds to believe that entry will be refused
by, or that consent to entry cannot be obtained from,
the occupant.
Obstruction
13 A person must not obstruct or hinder a designated person who is exercising powers or performing duties or functions
under this Act.
Order — Corrective Measures
Minister’s power
14 If, on the basis of information obtained under section
11, the Minister is of the opinion that an entity is not in
compliance with section 7 or 8, the Minister may, by order, require the entity to take any measures that he or she
considers to be necessary to ensure compliance with
those provisions.
Regulations
Regulations
15 The Governor in Council may make regulations for
carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act, including
regulations
(a) prescribing other entities for the purpose of the
definition entity;
(b) respecting the circumstances in which this Act
does not apply to entities;
(c) respecting the circumstances in which an entity is
controlled by another entity; and
(d) prescribing anything that may, by this Act, be prescribed.
Offences and Punishment
Offence
16 (1) Every person or entity that fails to comply with
section 7 or 8, subsection 11(4) or an order made under
section 14, or that contravenes section 13, is guilty of an
offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine of not more than $250,000.
False or misleading statement or information
(2) Every person or entity that knowingly makes any
false or misleading statement or knowingly provides false
or misleading information to the Minister or a person
designated under section 10 is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine of not
more than $250,000.
Liability of officers, directors, etc.
17 If a person or an entity commits an offence under this
Act, any officer, director or agent or mandatary of the
person or entity who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in its commission is a party
to and guilty of the offence and liable on conviction to the
punishment provided for the offence, whether or not the
person or entity has been prosecuted or convicted.
Offence by employee or agent or mandatary
18 In a prosecution for an offence under subsection
16(1), it is sufficient proof of the offence to establish that
it was committed by an employee or agent or mandatary
of the accused, whether or not the employee or agent or mandatary is identified or has been prosecuted for the offence,
unless the accused establishes that they exercised
due diligence to prevent its commission.
Report to Parliament
Annual report
19 (1) The Minister must cause to be tabled in each
House of Parliament, on or before December 31 of each year or, if a House is not then sitting, on any of the next
30 days on which that House is sitting, a report containing
(a) a general summary of the activities of entities that provided a report under this Act for their previous financial year that carry a risk of forced labour or child
labour being used;
(b) the steps that entities have taken to assess and manage that risk; and
(c) if applicable, measures
taken by entities to remediate any forced labour or
child labour.
Publication
(2) The Minister must publish the report in a prominent
place on the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness website within 30 days after it is tabled in
both Houses of Parliament.
Review of the Act
Review by committee
20 (1) At the start of the fifth year after the day on which this section comes into force, a comprehensive review of this Act must be undertaken by the committee of the Senate, of the House of Commons or of both Houses of Parliament that may be designated or established for that purpose.
Report to Parliament
(2) The committee referred to in subsection (1) must, within one year after the review is undertaken under that subsection, submit a report to the House or Houses of Parliament of which it is a committee, including a statement setting out any changes to the Act that the committee recommends.
1997, c. 36
Customs Tariff
21 Subparagraph 132(1)‍(m)‍(i.‍1) of the Customs Tariff is replaced by the following:
(i.‍1) amending that tariff item to exclude goods that are mined, manufactured or produced wholly or in part by forced labour or child labour as those terms are defined in section 2 of the Modern Slavery Act, from that tariff item, or prescribing the conditions under which such goods may be excluded from that tariff item,
Coming into Force
January 1
22 This Act comes into force on January 1 of the
year following the year in which it receives royal
assent.
Published under authority of the Senate of Canada
explanatory notes
Customs Tariff
Clause 21: Text of relevant portions of subsection 132(1):
132 (1) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations
. . . 
(m) for the purposes of tariff item No. 9897.‍00.‍00,
. . . 
(i.‍1) amending that tariff item to exclude goods that are mined, manufactured or produced wholly or in part by forced labour from that tariff item, or prescribing the conditions under which such goods may be excluded from that tariff item,
Publication Explorer 
Publication Explorer 
ParlVU