Please join us for an evening of reflection and celebration as we mark 20 years of collective Canadian advocacy for corporate accountability. Over food and drinks, we will look back on how civil society campaigns and grassroots movements have challenged harmful government policies and corporate practices, and explore how we can organize together to confront the global polycrisis, reclaiming our power as citizens, workers and communities in the face of an increasingly influential corporate lobby.

We will be joined by special guest speaker Nora Loreto.

Spaces are limited. Please RSVP here to confirm your participation.

Accessibility note: Spark Beer is a wheelchair-accessible space. Simultaneous interpretation will be offered between English and French. 

About the CNCA: Since July 2005, the Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability has united Canadian civil society organizations standing in solidarity with workers and communities harmed by Canadian corporate activity around the world. Our members include human rights, faith, grassroots solidarity and environmental advocacy groups, trade unions and international development organizations, collectively representing over 3 million Canadians, who advocate together for policy and law reform in Canada.

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The Canadian government enables this violence through a “US loophole” in our arms export laws, which exempts weapons and weapons components shipped to the United States from human rights risk assessments. All too often, these weapons are then linked to serious abuses by US actors or shipped onwards to third countries. 

Important new legislation has been introduced to close the US loophole. The legislation will soon come to a vote in the House of Commons. On February 17th, CNCA members will join a country-wide movement in a national day of action calling on MPs from all parties to support the No More Loopholes bill. 

Our network unites more than 40 Canadian civil society organizations working to hold Canadian corporations accountable for human rights, labour, and environmental abuses around the world. The choice is clear: for Canada to finally live up to its international human rights obligations, it must take action to end corporate impunity and close the US loophole. 

Learn more, and take action, at: https://armsembargonow.ca/nomoreloopholes/.

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The Canadian government has continued to evade questions from civil society and directly-impacted rightsholders on the status of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), a position it has left vacant since May 2025 and rendered toothless despite promises to the contrary. 

The government’s plans to table supply chain due diligence legislation – announced in the 2024 Fall Economic Statement, and building on previous commitments in the 2023 and 2024 budgets – have not materialized. 

As Canada restructures its global trading relationships, these measures are essential to ensure Canada’s path forward respects the human rights of workers and communities impacted by Canadian companies and their supply chains.  

In June 2025, Member of Parliament Heather McPherson submitted an order paper question for the government’s official response on both matters. 

On the future of the CORE, the government’s response indicated that a “new Ombudsperson will be appointed in due course should the government’s review warrant such an appointment.” 

On the status of supply chain due diligence legislation, the government said it “remains committed to helping end the practice of forced labour” and that “the new government is assessing its options on how to best address this important issue.” As of March 2026, the government has provided no updates despite ongoing requests for information. 

The question in full, and the government’s response, can be viewed here.

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Workers and communities around the world have called on the Canadian government to hold our companies accountable. But Canada is dragging its feet.

In this “hinge” moment, Canada can chart a new course: rebalancing unchecked corporate power with new rules that require companies to listen to workers and communities, prevent harms before they occur, and provide long-awaited justice to people who have been harmed. A growing number of countries around the world have adopted, or are considering, legislation that does just this.

On Friday, September 26, at 12pm, please join us on Parliament Hill in Ottawa as we rally in solidarity with impacted communities around the world to change the systems that enable corporate impunity. 

We will deliver to the government over 40,000 signed action cards calling for Canada to introduce comprehensive legislation that ensures Canadian companies respect human rights and the environment globally. An interactive art installation will highlight the urgent need for action in Canada while celebrating bonds of global solidarity and years of grassroots mobilization by Canadians from coast to coast to coast. 

See here to learn more about the legislation we are calling for. 

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Simply put, this devastation “could not happen without the support of private sector actors.”

The report names many companies and sectors with Canadian links, including the sale in Canada of real estate in Israeli colonies. Corporate entities named in the report include arms manufacturers, tech firms, building and construction companies, extractive and service industries, banks, pension funds, insurers, universities, and charities. 

Sovereign wealth and pension funds are highlighted as “significant financiers” of abuse, including the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ). The CDPQ invests almost $9.6 billion in companies named in the rapporteur’s report – “despite its sustainable investment policy and human rights policy.” 

Businesses have a responsibility to respect human rights. They can implement this responsibility by conducting human rights due diligence, and heightened human rights due diligence through periods of conflict. The Special Rapporteur names these responsibilities directly and notes, “Had proper human rights due diligence been undertaken, corporate entities would have long ago disengaged from Israeli occupation.”

The CNCA reiterates its calls to the Canadian government to implement human rights and environmental due diligence legislation to prevent Canadian corporations from acting with impunity. New research by the Palestinian Youth Movement, World Beyond War, and other members of the Arms Embargo Now campaign clearly shows that Canada continues to send weapons to Israel, despite Canadian government claims to the contrary. We urge the government to take seriously the UN reports of genocide and several decades of human rights abuses under occupation, and to make every effort to divest from these.

We also note with great concern that the UN Special Rapporteur has been sanctioned by the U.S. following the publication of her report. It is fundamentally important that governments protect independent investigation, human rights for all, and the ability to fairly critique the corporate sector and governments freely.

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The Honourable Maninder Sidhu
Minister of International Trade
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Sidhu,

The Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability (CNCA) welcomes you to your new role as Minister of International Trade.

We are writing to ensure that the Government of Canada intends to honour its commitment to strengthening and reinforcing the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE). In light of the now-vacant post of the CORE, we respectfully request a meeting with you to discuss this matter.

Formed in 2005, the CNCA unites over 40 civil society groups calling for federal law reform to ensure that Canadian companies protect human and labour rights and the environment wherever they operate. Our members include human rights, environmental, labour, faith, solidarity and international development organizations collectively representing more than 3 million Canadians. 

For over a decade, CNCA members advocated for the creation of an office to investigate complaints of abuse linked to the overseas activities of Canadian companies. In 2018, we stood with then trade minister François-Philippe Champagne when he announced the creation of the CORE and he vowed to equip the office with the “tools and resources” required for companies to comply with the complaint process. These tools and resources were never delivered,even afterthen Ombudsperson Sheri Meyerhoffer stated that the office “should be granted the ability to compel documents and testimony from the companies it investigates.”

In 2023, the Standing Committee on International Trade recommended that the government undertake a review of the CORE, to ensure the Ombudsperson’s ability to review complaints “adequately and in a timely manner.” In her response, your predecessor, Mary Ng, welcomed the recommendation and committed to conducting a review “starting in 2024 and over a 6-month period.” The review was launched in September 2024 and the CNCA submitted comments. The government has yet to publish the results of the review. 

We note with deep concern that the term of interim Ombudsperson Masud Husain ended on May 20, 2025, leaving the post vacant. To our knowledge, complainants were not notified in advance, adding to a disturbing lack of transparency surrounding the office. Over the past year, the office has not produced any new quarterly or annual “reports on inquiries and complaints” (despite claiming otherwise), and no new investigations have been announced. In this context, existing complainants are left unexpectedly without an ombudsperson to oversee their file.

Furthermore, pending complainants are left wondering whether the office is taking new complaints – or whether the office will even remain open. We urge you to provide an update on the status of the government’s review of the CORE and its plans for the future of the office. 

The demand for an effective CORE is high, as demonstrated by the significant and growing number of complaints that the office has received over time. Canadians have invested significant time and resources into the creation and maintenance of this necessary mechanism. Last year, Mary Ng acknowledged the “important role that the CORE plays as part of Canada’s broader responsible business conduct policy framework” and the “public interest in the activities of the office.” 

As you assume your new responsibilities as Minister of International Trade, we encourage you to equip the CORE with the promised tools and resources and ensure that complainants are treated with respect, including through prompt handling of their complaints. We would greatly appreciate meeting with you as soon as possible to discuss this further. 

We look forward to your reply to this letter.

On behalf of the CNCA,

Aidan Gilchrist-Blackwood
CNCA Network Coordinator

The CNCA Steering Committee:

Cc:

• Adam Chambers, Member of Parliament for Simcoe North and Conservative Shadow Minister for International Trade
• Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Member of Parliament for Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot-Acton and Bloc Québecois responsible for international trade
• Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Member of Parliament for Lac-Saint-Jean and Bloc Québecois member responsible for human rights
• Heather McPherson, Member of Parliament for Edmonton Strathcona
• Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands
• Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne
• Nicole Lunstead, Deputy CORE, Office of the CORE
• Raihan Butt, Director, Responsible Business Conduct Division, Global Affairs Canada

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CC: The Honourable Maninder Sidhu, Minister of International Trade 

Dear Prime Minister Mark Carney, 

On behalf of the Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability (CNCA), I would like to welcome you to your new role as Prime Minister of Canada.

Formed in 2005, the CNCA brings together over 40 human rights, environmental, labour, faith and solidarity groups, collectively representing millions of Canadians. Our network is united by the straightforward principle that Canadian companies should respect human rights and the environment throughout their global operations and supply chains. 

For too long, Canada has failed to adequately address glaring human rights abuse and environmental damage linked to the activities and operations of Canadian companies. These harms include killings, sexual violence, water contamination, and land grabs, as well as forced labour, poor working conditions, and violations of other fundamental labour rights including to freedom of association and to collective bargaining. Workers and communities around the world have called on the Canadian government to hold our companies accountable. 

This issue matters deeply to Canadians. Over 50,000 have signed a petition calling for legislation to ensure Canadian companies respect human rights, including the right to a healthy environment, throughout their global operations and supply chains. Action is especially vital now, as these challenging economic times can heighten the vulnerability of workers and communities to abuse and exploitation. 

Your election platform called for Canada to show global leadership and to champion important values, including human rights and the rule of law. In order to do so, it is essential that Canada fulfil its internationally recognized duty to protect against human rights abuses by non-state actors, including Canadian companies who all too often act with impunity. For decades, UN experts have repeatedly called on Canada to do just that. 

CNCA members are business and human rights subject-matter experts. Furthermore, CNCA is the secretariat of a global network of corporate accountability organizations spanning six continents. Many of our members and colleagues have decades-long relationships with people who have been negatively affected by Canadian businesses overseas. We offer tools and resources to support the development of effective policy.

The Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability urges your government to take the following actions to ensure Canadian companies respect human rights and the environment:

1. Adopt mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation. We note that the 2024 Fall Economic Statement announced the Canadian government’s “intent to introduce legislation to create a new supply chain due diligence regime”. Our network has developed model human rights and environmental due diligence legislation, endorsed by over two hundred organizations from Canada and around the world, which your government can use as a blueprint for its own legislation. 

2. Empower the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise to effectively serve impacted communities. For over a decade, our network has advocated for an independent and effective office and has provided expert advice to the Canadian government on the essential powers and independence such an office requires. The need today for an effective Ombudsperson is as great as ever. 

3. Support progress towards a strong UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights, answering the calls of civil society organizations in Canada and around the world. CNCA is connected to the global movement moving the treaty agenda forward. 

We encourage you to include specific instructions to implement these measures in your ministerial mandate letters, and we kindly request a meeting with you in the coming weeks to discuss these measures in greater detail. 

We look forward to your reply to this letter.

Sincerely, 

Aidan Gilchrist-Blackwood

Network Coordinator, Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability 

This letter is also available in PDF format, in English and French.

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We asked: 

1. Will your party support comprehensive mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation?

2. Will you make the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) independent, provide it with the power to compel documents and testimony, and ensure the office is well-resourced so it can effectively investigate human rights abuse allegations linked to Canadian corporations operating overseas?

We received replies from five federal parties. We did not receive a response from the Liberal Party or the Conservative Party.

The Bloc Quebecois, Green Party, NDP, Christian Heritage Party, and Communist Party expressed their support for comprehensive mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (mHREDD) legislation and for empowering the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise.

The Conservative Party’s 2025 platform commits to “stop forced and child labour with strict new minimum penalties for executives or board members of companies that exploit children and abuse workers for profit, and create a private right of action against goods made with forced and child labour that are sold in Canada.”

The Liberal Party’s 2025 platform does not contain specific commitments on measures to ensure Canadian companies respect human rights when operating abroad. 

Here are the full responses we received: 

• Bloc Quebecois – Response to 2025 federal election questionnaire [In French only]
• Green Party – Response to 2025 federal election questionnaire
• NDP – Response to 2025 federal election questionnaire
• Christian Heritage Party – Response to 2025 federal election questionnaire
• Communist Party – Response to 2025 federal election questionnaire

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