Canada

Status

The Canadian government has not engaged in the development of a NAP on Business and Human Rights. In 2007 the National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Canadian Extractive Sector in Developing Countries, which had been convened by the government of Canada, concluded a year-long public consultation process on the overseas extractive sector. Akin to a baseline assessment exercise, the consultations culminated in the release of multi-stakeholder consensus policy recommendations for the Canadian government, including a recommendation to create an independent ombudsperson office with powers to investigate. Civil society organisations and human rights experts have called on the Government of Canada to implement the Roundtables recommendations and encouraged the government to step up efforts to regulate the conduct of Canadian businesses. In June 2017 at the end of its country visit to Canada, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights encouraged the government to develop a comprehensive national action plan on business and human rights.