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Protecting human rights in federal procurement

The Government of Canada is committed to leveraging its spending power to positively influence ethical business practices, both at home and abroad.

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Ethical standards for government procurement

As the government’s central purchaser, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards for government procurement.

PSPC is developing tools and guidelines to safeguard federal procurement supply chains from human trafficking, forced labour and child labour.

Video: Protecting human and labour rights in Canadian supply chains

As the Government of Canada’s central buyer, PSPC is committed to working with the supplier community to prevent forced labour, child labour and human tracking in public procurement.

Transcript: Protecting human and labour rights in Canadian supply chains

[Music plays.]

(Text on screen: Public Services and Procurement Canada)

[Image: the screen becomes light blue. A lighter circle appears, representing a stylized room. In the middle of the circle, shopping bags are shown.]

Do you pay attention to the origins of the things you buy?

[Image: A family appears in the foreground: a man with a little girl in his arms and a woman with a piece of paper in her hands. Dialogue bubbles appear above the man and the woman. While zooming in on the family, question marks and images of protective gloves and a face shield, as well as a dollar sign, appear in the background.]

Do you know if the workers who made them had decent working conditions?

[Image: The screen clears. An easel with a white board appears. A red maple leaf and the words CODE OF CONDUCT appear on the white board. A man is gesticulating and talking beside the white board while one woman makes a gesture. Another woman in a wheelchair is taking notes on a laptop, and another man is standing beside her.]

As the Government of Canada's central buyer, Public Services and Procurement Canada expects suppliers to apply the highest ethical standards across their supply chains.

[Image: The screen clears. A scale appears, with an adult worker sitting on the right side, with two children. The three look dirty and tired, the sun is shining behind them. Items such as computer chips and motherboards appear on the left side of the scale and tip it down.]

(Text on screen: Preventing forced labour, child labour, and human trafficking)

This means ensuring the goods we buy are free from forced labour, child labour, and human trafficking.

[Image: The scale and text disappear. In the background, chimneys and industrial buildings appear. On top of the screen, there is a dial with the arrow at the lowest position. Two workers appear on the left, one is pushing a cart with coal or ore, and the other is leaning on the cart. Both are dirty and wear protective equipment. A third worker appears on the right, sitting and wiping his forehead. The word “RISK” appears in the middle of the dial while the arrow moves up.]

Forced labour is present all over the world.

[Image: The screen clears. A woman appears sitting at a table with an open laptop in front of her.]

(Text on screen: Political instability, natural disasters, economic hardships, lack of social safety nets)

[Image: A white bubble appears in front of the woman. In the bubble, a woman carrying a bag and holding a little boy by the hand, and a white-haired man with a cane appear. As the woman moves her arm, the word “DEBT” is revealed on the bag.]

Political instability, natural disasters, economic hardship, or a lack of social assistance can make people vulnerable to unethical practices.

[Image: The images disappear. A world map appears, with location pins in several continents. Boxes with maple leaf labels are shown on both sides of the map. Lines appear connecting several of the location pins. The globe turns and the pins disappear. An assembly line appears in front of it with boxes, and a man with a hard hat takes notes on a clipboard. This image shrinks and moves to the top of the screen. A boat, a plane, a truck and a van appear successively on the lower part of the screen, connected with a dotted line.]

Even when a Canadian company follows our laws and labour standards, they may still unknowingly contribute to human rights violations in their supply chains.

[Image: The image scrolls up so that the transportation images are at the top of the screen. Below, an open laptop appears in the middle. On its right, a man in office attire takes notes on a clipboard. On the left, a man in a hardhat holds a sheet of paper and points to it. There are shipping boxes with maple leaf labels on both sides. In the middle, under the laptop, three checkboxes appear and checkmarks are added one by one.]

Modern supply chains are complex, and it can be difficult to know the origin of a product and all of its components.

[Image: A woman appears standing on the left and holding an open laptop.]

Let's use a laptop as an example.

[Image: The shapes of the continents appear in the background. Location pins appear one by one, with shipping boxes beside them.]

Our fictional laptop is assembled in Canada, but its battery is made in another country.

[Image: Airplanes and boats start moving between the location pins.]

The components of the battery - lithium, graphite, and cobalt - also come from different countries.

[Image: The map disappears. A boat, a plane, a truck and a van appear on top of the screen, connected with a dotted line. Behind the woman, white lines grow in irregular intertwining shapes, with arrows pointing in different directions. A globe appears on the right of the lines.]

The microchip and motherboard, manufactured in other parts of the world, contain silicon from quartzite, fiberglass, and copper from various factories.

It's clearly complicated.

[Image: The woman with the laptop moves to the left and all other images disappear. On the right, a white circle with a laptop in it appears. Next to the laptop, two arrows point to factory buildings. Two arrows appear next to each factory building, pointing to different computer parts. An arrow appears next to each of the four parts, pointing to a manufacturing facility. Beside the facilities, labels appear, from top to bottom: “Country A”, “Country B”, “Country C”, “Country D”]

For most products, it can be difficult, or sometimes impossible, to trace supply chains in their entirety. Modern supply chains are spread out around the world with many steps in the production.

[Image: Location pins appear in each country label. All arrows disappear. Red dots appear on the country labels. The arrows reappear in reverse, pointing left from the facilities to the computer parts and factories. Red dots appear on some of the computer parts, then the factories, and then a few red dots appear on the laptop.]

Abuses are often concealed near the beginning of the supply chain, the furthest from the buyer and consumer's awareness.

[Image: A shape showing the world map appears in the middle and expands to fill the screen. Location pins and boxes appear in different continents, then airplanes and boats begin moving between the locations.]

Knowing your supply chains is the first step towards understanding the real or potential risks of forced labour, child labour, and human trafficking.

[Image: The map images fade into the background while two location pins from different continents zoom in. In the left pin, a man wearing a hardhat is shown, holding a mobile phone. In the right pin, a man holds a pen and talks on the phone. A laptop appears in the foreground and communication wave symbols appear and disappear between the two location pins.]

Affecting change starts with getting curious about the impacts of your own activities or business.

[Image: The screen fades away. A stylized desk appears with an open laptop, and a few cog wheels surround the laptop screen. A stylized image of a web page appears on the laptop screen.]

Governments, non-government organizations, and industry associations all work to create tools and resources that are made available to help you better understand supply chains.

[Image: The screen clears. A stylized office appears, with a white board on an easel. On the whiteboard, the words CODE OF CONDUCT and a maple leaf appear. Around the whiteboard, three people gesture and converse. Two thought bubbles appear above the characters, one containing a red heart and the other a red maple leaf.]

[Image: The characters move away. The office furniture and whiteboard move to the sides. A man holding a clipboard and a woman with a handbag appear and shake hands.]

Public Services and Procurement Canada is committed to working with the supplier community to prevent forced labour, child labour, and human trafficking in public procurement.

[Image: The screen clears. A stylized desk appears with an open laptop, and a few cog wheels surround the laptop screen. On the laptop screen, a stylized canada.ca web page appears.]

Please explore our webpage on Canada.ca for up-to-date resources and information.

[Music stops.]

(Text on screen: Check us out, Facebook: /PSPC.SPAC, Instagram: @pspc_spac, X: @pspc_spac, YouTube: PSPC_SPAC.)

(Text on screen: ISBN: 978-0-660-70370-1, Catalogue: P4-133-3034E-MP4)

[Music stops]

(Public Services and Procurement Canada signature)

(Canada Wordmark)

End of video

Foundational work

PSPC has taken steps towards implementing ethical procurement practices throughout federal supply chains.

National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking

The whole-of-government National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, led by Public Safety Canada, was launched in 2019. In response, PSPC created a dedicated team to address forced labour and human trafficking in federal procurement supply chains. This team strives to:

To accomplish this, PSPC works closely and collaboratively with various departments, including Global Affairs Canada (GAC). PSPC continues to support GAC with its work on legislation to eradicate forced labour from Canadian supply chains.

Risk assessment of federal procurement supply chains

In May 2021, a risk analysis of PSPC’s supply chains determined which goods were at the highest risk of exposure to human trafficking, forced labour and child labour.

The analysis is an important step to understanding the vulnerabilities of supply chains. The results are key to developing an evidence-based approach to address human trafficking in federal procurement supply chains.

PSPC developed an ethical procurement action plan that includes the following recommendations from the risk assessment:

Activities underway

PSPC is undertaking a number of initiatives to further support the Government of Canada in achieving procurement free from risks of forced labour, including:

Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act: Requires certain entities and government institutions to submit annual reports detailing the steps taken during the previous financial year to prevent and reduce the risk that forced labour or child labour is used by them or in their supply chains.

International cooperation

The Principles to Guide Government Action to Combat Human Trafficking in Global Supply Chains were developed in 2018 by:

The principles provide a framework for governments to take action to prevent and address human trafficking, including forced labour, in supply chains. As a member of this group's steering committee, PSPC works closely with its international partners to ensure a harmonized approach to the issue of forced labour.

Policy on ethical procurement

In March 2024, PSPC conducted public engagement and consultation sessions to share updates about its ethical procurement activities, and to discuss a draft departmental policy on Ethical Procurement. This policy supports PSPC’s commitments to preventing human rights abuses in supply chains, and ensuring that the highest sustainability and ethical standards are applied in the procurement of goods and services.

Questions and comments from participants focussed on the need for practical tools and guidance for suppliers and procurement professionals.

The policy will establish the basis through which to develop a range of targeted ethical procurement activities, initiatives, and frameworks, including specific requirements and tools. A subsequent human rights due diligence framework will include specific guidance for suppliers.

The implementation of the policy on Ethical Procurement is planned for 2024-2025.

Resources and requirements

To help suppliers maintain the highest ethical standards for government procurement, PSPC implemented the following.

Requirements for the ethical procurement of apparel

Contracting and certification requirements for the ethical procurement of apparel, effective since 2018. The policy requires federal suppliers to self-certify that they, and their direct Canadian and foreign suppliers, comply with human and labour rights standards.

Policy notifications | CanadaBuys

Code of conduct for government suppliers

PSPC’s Code of Conduct for Procurement outlines expectations for Government of Canada suppliers. The code requires that suppliers do not engage in any form of human and labour rights abuses.

The code is mandatory for all Government of Canada procurements as of April 1, 2023.

Code of Conduct for Procurement

Anti-forced labour requirements

PSPC’s anti-forced labour requirements were first implemented in November 2021, when a set of anti-forced labour clauses were included in goods contracts. The anti-forced labour requirements were expanded to standing offers and supply arrangements in November 2023, and to services contracts, including research and development, in December 2024.

Under the anti-forced labour clauses, suppliers must not provide, deliver or sell goods or services to Canada that have been produced wholly or in part by forced labour.

Supply Manual Annex 2.8 - Anti-forced labour requirements

Analysis of the risk of human trafficking, forced labour, and child labour in PSPC supply chains

Rights Lab, of the University of Nottingham (United-Kingdom) completed an analysis of the risk of forced labour, child labour, and human trafficking in PSPC supply chains.

Executive summary: Risk analysis of human trafficking, forced labour, and child labour in Public Services and Procurement Canada’s procurement supply chains

What we heard report: Industry engagement on ethical procurement

In 2022 to 2023, PSPC conducted a request for information for industry, followed by public awareness and engagement sessions. The report summarizing these engagement activities is available.

Executive summary: Industry engagement on ethical procurement—What we heard report

Webinar

In spring 2024, in partnership with Shared Services Canada, PSPC hosted a webinar on the risks of forced labour in electronics supply chains, in English and in French. During the 1-hour webinar, subject matter experts addressed the following points:

This webinar might be of particular interest for businesses supplying electronics goods to the federal government or considering bidding. Electronics goods cover a broad spectrum of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) hardware products, which rely on electronic components to serve various consumer and industry needs.

To request a recording of the webinar, please email: spac.paachatsethiques-apethicalprocurement.pspc@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca, specifying your language of choice.

Ethical procurement awareness and guidance

PSPC is providing information about the risks of human trafficking, forced labour and child labour in supply chains, and how to address these risks.

Ethical procurement awareness and guidance

Contact us to learn more

Contact us to share your comments or learn more about federal ethical procurement.

Email: spac.paachatsethiques-apethicalprocurement.pspc@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca

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