November 14, 2014 - New Westminster, British Columbia - Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, today announced the enhanced corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, Doing Business the Canadian Way: A Strategy to Advance CSR in Canada’s Extractive Sector Abroad. The Minister made the announcement at the Fraser River Discovery Centre in New Westminster, British Columbia.
The 2014 enhanced CSR strategy delivers on the Government of Canada’s commitment to review the initial 2009 strategy. Based on extensive cross-country consultations, the enhanced strategy strengthens Canada’s leadership and earned reputation for excellence in CSR.
It also demonstrates the Government of Canada’s commitment to ensuring Canadian companies continue to exhibit the highest CSR standards and best practices while operating abroad.
To further support the enhanced CSR strategy, Minister Fast also launched the selection process for a new CSR counsellor and issued a call for qualified candidates.
Key elements of the enhanced CSR strategy include:
- making, for the first time, the Government of Canada’s “economic diplomacy” conditional on a Canadian company’s alignment with the enhanced CSR strategy;
- withdrawing of Government of Canada support in foreign markets as a result of a company’s non-participation in the dispute resolution mechanisms of the Office of the CSR Counsellor or Canada’s National Contact Point (NCP) for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises;
- increasing support and training for CSR initiatives and services at Canada’s diplomatic network and missions abroad to ensure a consistently high level of CSR-related services for Canadian businesses and local networks and communities;
- enhancing the CSR counsellor’s mandate to work with Canadian companies to ensure CSR guidelines and best practices are reflected and incorporated in their operating approach abroad;
- re-focusing the role and efforts of the Office of the CSR Counsellor on working to prevent, identify and resolve disputes in their early stages;
- referring disputes requiring formal mediation to the Canadian National Contact Point, the robust and proven dialogue facilitation function guided by the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises active in 46 countries; and
- including benchmark CSR guidelines released by international organizations since 2009 and keeping flexibility to build awareness of CSR guidelines developed in Canada.
The strategy announced today provides enhanced support so that local communities in host countries can realize the economic and social benefits of natural resource development and local procurement opportunities, while providing host governments and investors with the confidence they need to partner with world-class, responsible Canadian extractive companies.
Quick Facts
- Canada’s extractive sector — oil, natural gas and mining — generated $174 billion of exports in 2013, accounting for over 39 percent of the total value of Canadian domestic exports.
- Canada’s natural resource sector directly and indirectly accounts for almost one fifth of the country’s nominal GDP and 1.8 million jobs.
- With interests in more than 8,000 properties in more than 100 countries, Canadian extractive sector companies account for almost half of the world’s mining and mineral exploration activity.
- Nearly 3,200 Canadian suppliers, including engineering, environmental, legal, financial and equipment companies, provide expertise and equipment to the mining subsector alone.
Quotes
“Responsible resource development with our partners at home and abroad is a priority of the Harper government to create jobs and opportunities.
“The enhanced CSR strategy bolsters our commitment to helping our Canadian extractive companies strengthen their responsible business practices. We expect our Canadian companies to promote Canadian values and to operate with the highest ethical standards.
“Our Canadian companies are already world leaders, and the enhanced CSR strategy will ensure Canada’s leadership and reputation of excellence continues in the future.”
- Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade
“The Government of Canada is setting a high bar for corporate responsibility performance—one that our members embrace. The new strategy will add distinction to Canada’s mining brand and should send a clear signal to other mining countries to take note.”
- Pierre Gratton, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mining Association of Canada
“The Government of Canada has an important role to play in supporting both the global competitiveness of the Canadian mineral industry and its ability to contribute to the sustainable development of the societies in which it operates. The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada supports the steps taken to promote responsible mineral development through this strategy.”
- Rodney Thomas, President, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada
“Local procurement is one of the most effective tools for helping to ensure that people gain benefits from the mining activities happening in their countries. It creates local jobs, builds business networks, and improves access to training and technology. We’re excited that it is one of the commitments made in Canada’s CSR strategy for the extractive sector.”
- Jeff Geipel, Venture Leader, Mining Shared Value, Engineers Without Borders Canada
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Contacts
Rudy Husny
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Ed Fast
Minister of International Trade
613-992-7332
Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
343-203-7700
media@international.gc.ca
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Backgrounder - Canada’s Renewed CSR Strategy: Doing Business the Canadian Way: A Strategy to Advance CSR in Canada’s Extractive Sector Abroad
Canadian Leadership
Through its Building the Canadian Advantage: A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector, first launched in 2009, the Government of Canada provides CSR-related guidance and support to Canadian oil and gas and mining companies, thereby increasing their ability to manage the social and environmental risks of operating abroad.
Consultation and Review of 2009 CSR Strategy
When the CSR strategy was launched in 2009, the government committed to review it after five years; the comprehensive CSR strategy review took place in 2013-14.
In September 2013, the Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, launched a series of five extractive sector consultations across the country―in Vancouver, Calgary, Montréal, Toronto and Saskatoon―over a three-week period. Then, in December 2013, Erin O’Toole, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade, launched a series of CSR strategy consultations to build on the extractive sector consultations. The consultations with representatives of civil society organizations, companies and industry associations consisted of two round tables and an industry conference call chaired by the Parliamentary Secretary and an online public consultation process.
The feedback received guided the development of recommendations for enhancing Canada’s approach to CSR in the extractive sector abroad.
Some Recent CSR activities at Canadian Missions Abroad
Base Metals Symposium: November 2014, Côte d’Ivoire
The first Base Metals Symposium in Côte d’Ivoire provided an opportunity to showcase the base metals industry to mining industry professionals and economic players and to encourage the government to adopt legislation that takes into account the specific features of base metals. A further objective was to promote the potential impact and benefits of base metal development in a region, as well as conditions required for success. The symposium made it possible to share, for the first time, perspectives, tools and methods using, in part, the gold sector as an example, and offered examples of approaches and results from around the world over the past decades. As well, CSR actions adopted by mining companies in Côte d’Ivoire and worldwide, including good practices and positive impacts on local development, were presented.
Executive Program in CSR, Strategy and Management: April 2014, Ghana
McGill University’s Institute for the Study of International Development, in collaboration with the CSR Training Institute, held its second Executive Program in Corporate Social Responsibility, Strategy and Management in Accra, Ghana. The five-day program brought together participants from 14 countries on three continents and from 20 sectors and interest areas, including the private sector (for example, the mining, petroleum, energy and manufacturing sectors, as well as consumer, legal and consulting services), government (for example, in the policy, regulatory and para-public areas), non-government organizations, international organizations and multilateral bodies to learn from each other and McGill’s experts. The program took participants through sessions on development, governance, communities and sustainable development, in addition to sharing investor perspectives and views on legal developments. Participants, including Ghanaian ministers and parliamentarians, acquired new and exciting insights into the theory and practice of CSR. The Government of Ghana is eager to collaborate with and encourage companies to be active partners in sustainable development.
Monthly CSR Round Table for Canadian Mining Companies: November 2013, Chile
The Embassy of Canada to Chile supports the promotion of responsible business practices among Canadian companies via a monthly CSR round table for Canadian mining companies. During monthly meetings, best practices and common approaches to challenges encountered are presented and discussed. The meetings also allow for collaborative projects. For example, in November 2013, the embassy brought two Mi’kmaq chiefs to Chile’s north to meet with Colla and Diaguita Indigenous communities and share their approach to Indigenous economic development.
CSR Seminars to Promote Responsible Business Practice: November 2013, Nicaragua
The Embassy of Canada to Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras delivered two half-day CSR seminars with the Nicaragüense para la Responsabilidad Social Empresarial [Nicaraguan union for corporate social responsibility] (UniRSE), a local CSR association, in Malpaisillo and Diriamba, Nicaragua, where there is notable Canadian investment in the extractive and apparel sectors. A hundred delegates from government, the private sector, the local community and from other foreign missions in Nicaragua attended. Embassy officials presented Canada’s CSR Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector, while UNIRSE covered the role of communities, engaging with companies and the importance of collaboration among stakeholders. B2Gold, Polaris and Gildan also provided presentations, sharing their CSR practices, strategies and projects.
Promoting Competitiveness and Economic Diversification in Extractive Regions: February 2014, Peru
The Embassy of Canada to Peru launched the project Promoting Competitiveness and Economic Diversification in Extractives Regions, in the northern province of Trujillo, Peru. This $21-million project, co-funded by the mining companies Barrick Gold, Antamina and Rio Tinto, aims to improve the economic and social conditions of people living in mining regions. It will support 3,000 family farms grouped in 30 cooperatives, mostly in the agriculture and forestry sectors. The project will ensure that local cooperatives build the necessary capacities to increase the quantity and quality of their production, increase their sales and generate more revenues. By doing so, the project is supporting the Government of Peru’s economic diversification efforts in rural mining communities. The launch attracted more than 150 participants from civil society, national and regional governments and the private sector. Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the project during his official visit to Peru in May 2013.
Canada’s Two CSR-Related Dialogue Facilitation Mechanisms
Canada has two non-judicial mechanisms to assist with CSR-related dispute resolution: one is the responsibility of Canada’s National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the other, of the Office of the Extractive Sector CSR Counsellor.
1) Review function of the NCP
Canada’s NCP has been in place since 2000, when all countries adhering to the 1976 OECD Declaration on Multinational Enterprises (of which Canada was an original signatory) were required to establish a national contact point (NCP). The dual mandate of the NCP is to promote the OECD guidelines and to ensure their effective implementation. This latter function is a non-judicial dispute resolution mechanism aimed at helping companies better understand and implement the guidelines. Canada’s NCP is unique in the world in that it brings together seven different government departments and so benefits from a wide variety of expertise. Canada’s NCP Secretariat and Chair are housed at Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada.
2) Review process of the Office of the CSR Counsellor
The Extractive Sector CSR Counsellor’s Office was an innovation of Canada’s 2009 CSR strategy. The mandate of the office relates exclusively to the activities of Canadian extractive sector companies operating abroad. This mandate is dual in nature. First, its advisory role offers guidance to Canadian companies and affected parties on implementing CSR performance guidelines. Second, the office reviews the CSR practices of Canadian extractive sector companies operating outside Canada. To fulfill the second part of its mandate, the office created its non-judicial review process, designed to bring companies and project-affected stakeholders together to resolve differences. While co-located with Canada’s International Trade Office in Toronto, the office operates at arm’s length from government.
Purpose of Both Mechanisms: Constructive Dialogue Toward Dispute Resolution
Both mechanisms have built on, and contributed to, good practices globally. They are designed to encourage dialogue between parties to help them move toward long-term, mutually beneficial relationships. The government believes its dialogue facilitation mechanisms are better suited to this goal than adversarial approaches.
These Canadian mechanisms are not meant to replace local processes. In fact, the use of local options first is recommended as a means to avoid detracting from building local capacity in dispute resolution. Additionally, the mechanisms do not preclude the use of court systems, whether locally or in Canada, to seek legal restitution.
Alignment of Mechanisms in Renewed CSR Strategy
The advisory and review mandates of the CSR counsellor’s office make it well placed to help companies and communities establish dialogue and to help resolve early-stage disagreements and disputes. Canada’s NCP includes the expertise of seven Government of Canada departments, including Natural Resources Canada and its extractive sector knowledge, which makes the NCP well placed to handle more complex or multi-dimensional disputes between companies and communities.
