Reports on Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act 2024 to 2025

This report outlines measures taken by Library and Archives Canada and supplementary information as mandated by the Act, for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025.

On this page

• General information
• Information on LAC's structure, activities and supply chains
• Information on the steps taken in the previous financial year to prevent and reduce the risk that forced labour or child labour is used at any step of the production of goods made, purchased or distributed by LAC
• Information on the policies and due diligence processes in relation to forced labour and child labour
• Information on the parts of activities and supply chains that carry a risk of forced labour or child labour being used and the steps taken to assess and manage that risk
• Information on any measures taken to remediate any forced labour or child labour
• Information on any measures taken to remediate the loss of income to the most vulnerable families that results from any measure taken to eliminate the use of forced labour or child labour
• Information on the training provided to employees on forced labour and child labour
• Information on how LAC assesses its effectiveness in ensuring that forced labour and child labour are not being used in its activities and supply chains

General information

Name of the organization

Library and Archives Canada (LAC)

Financial reporting year

April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025

Revision

Not available

Information required by the Act

Information on LAC's structure, activities and supply chains

LAC's mandate is to preserve the documentary heritage of Canada for the benefit of present and future generations; to serve as a source of enduring knowledge accessible to all, contributing to the cultural, social and economic advancement of Canada as a free and democratic society; to facilitate in Canada cooperation among the communities involved in the acquisition, preservation and diffusion of knowledge; and to serve as the continuing memory of the Government of Canada and its institutions.

To fulfill its mandate, LAC purchases goods such as software, computer equipment, office furniture, vehicles, specialized equipment, preservation supplies and historical documents. These goods are purchased mainly in Canada.

During the 2024–2025 fiscal year, LAC used tools from Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and Shared Services Canada (SSC), such as standing offers and supply arrangements. Contracts awarded using these tools represent 87% of the value of contracts issued for the purchase of goods.

Since November 2021, PSPC and SSC have implemented anti-forced labour clauses in all their goods contracts to ensure that they can terminate contracts where there is credible information that the goods have been produced in whole or in part by forced labour or human trafficking.

Additionally, since November 20, 2023, PSPC includes anti-forced labour clauses in all standing offers and supply arrangements for goods that have been issued, amended or refreshed.

As such, all LAC's contracts for goods resulting from the use of these tools include clauses relating to forced labour that set out, among other things, human rights and labour rights requirements. These clauses can be found in Policy Notification 150U1—Anti-forced labour requirements.

During this reporting period, LAC purchased goods under its own procurement authority, mainly specialized software, preservation supplies and historical documents.

Information on the steps taken in the previous financial year to prevent and reduce the risk that forced labour or child labour is used at any step of the production of goods made, purchased or distributed by LAC

LAC has integrated PSPC's standard contract clauses into its purchasing activities, including PSPC's Code of Conduct for Procurement​ (the Code) and anti-forced labour clauses.

In addition, to prevent and reduce the risk of forced labour or child labour in its procurement, LAC has used the following PSPC tools:

• Standing offers
• Supply arrangements
• Anti-forced labour contract clauses

PSPC has developed awareness-raising guidance materials (including risk mitigation strategies) for suppliers, targeted towards high-risk sectors. The materials are progressively becoming available on the canada.ca website.

Furthermore, the April 1, 2023, amendments to the Treasury Board Directive on the Management of Procurement required several contracting authorities to incorporate the Code into their procurement. In compliance with these amendments, SSC has integrated the Code into its procurement.

To prevent and reduce the risk of forced labour or child labour in its procurement, LAC has used the following SSC tools to which the Code applies:

• Standing offers
• Supply arrangements
• Contracts

As a common service provider, SSC is responsible for ensuring that government departments have access to reliable, secure and cost-effective IT infrastructure and solutions, including shared services related to networks and network security, data centres and cloud offerings, digital communications and IT tools.

Finally, contracts that are awarded by LAC, independently of the aforementioned PSPC and SSC tools, also include anti-forced labour clauses.

Information on the policies and due diligence processes in relation to forced labour and child labour

Effective April 1, 2023, amendments to the Treasury Board Directive on the Management of Procurement require contracting authorities from all departments listed in Schedules I, I.1 and II of the Financial Administration Act (with the exception of the Canada Revenue Agency) and commissions established in accordance with the Inquiries Act and designated as a department for the purposes of the Financial Administration Act to incorporate the Code of Conduct for Procurement (the Code) into their procurement.

The Code requires that vendors and their subcontractors providing goods to the Government of Canada comply with all applicable laws and regulations. In addition, the Code requires vendors and their subcontractors to comply with Canada's prohibition on the importation of goods produced, in whole or in part, by forced or compulsory labour. This includes forced or compulsory child labour and applies to all goods, regardless of their country of origin.

Pursuant to the aforementioned amendments, LAC has continued to integrate the Code into its procurement, with a view to safeguarding federal procurement supply chains from forced labour and child labour. Contracts that LAC has awarded included the Code through the General Conditions for goods.

The prohibition on the importation of goods produced wholly or in part by forced labour came into force under the Customs Tariff on July 1, 2020. This amendment implemented a commitment in the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (Chapter 23: Labour) and applies to all imports, regardless of origin.

Information on the parts of activities and supply chains that carry a risk of forced labour or child labour being used and the steps taken to assess and manage that risk

In May 2021, a risk analysis of PSPC's supply chains was completed by Rights Lab, a research centre at the University of Nottingham (United Kingdom), to determine which goods were at the highest risk of exposure to human trafficking, forced labour and child labour. The analysis and subsequent report elaborated key strategies for PSPC to leverage public spending power to raise awareness about forced labour in supply chains.

LAC took note of the findings and recommendations of this risk analysis and is monitoring related actions, including the implementation of the Policy on Ethical Procurement and the development of a human rights due diligence framework.

SSC is committed to identifying risks on an ongoing basis, promoting and developing risk management strategies, and continuing its awareness and engagement efforts with industry and strategic partners.

Information on any measures taken to remediate any forced labour or child labour

Not applicable, since LAC has not identified forced labour or child labour in its activities and supply chains.

Information on any measures taken to remediate the loss of income to the most vulnerable families that results from any measure taken to eliminate the use of forced labour or child labour

Not applicable, since LAC has not identified any loss of income for vulnerable families caused by measures taken to eliminate the use of forced labour or child labour in its activities and supply chains.

Information on the training provided to employees on forced labour and child labour

LAC does not provide employee training specifically on forced or child labour. However, LAC aims to disseminate relevant information as it becomes available to educate employees responsible for procurement and to mitigate the risk of forced labour and child labour in procurement processes.

PSPC has developed and is currently piloting a course for procurement officers, and LAC will leverage the course upon its publication for use across the Government of Canada.

Information on how LAC assesses its effectiveness in ensuring that forced labour and child labour are not being used in its activities and supply chains

LAC has not assessed the effectiveness of its efforts to avoid the use of forced labour or child labour during the fiscal year.