By Terrance S. Carter and Adriel N. Clayton

Federal Guidance to Prepare Reports under New Act against Forced and Child Labour

The Government of Canada has published a new guidance, entitled “Prepare a report – Entities” (the “Guidance”), to assist organizations, including certain charities and not-for-profits, that are required to file public reports to comply with new legislation against forced and child labour. As reported in our May 2023 Charity & NFP Law Update, the new requirements were set out in Bill S-211, the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act, which received Royal Assent on May 11, 2023. The Act was subsequently brought into force as of January 1, 2024.

The Guidance, which was published on December 20, 2023, provides an overview on how to file a report for organizations that are “reporting entities” under the Act. While there are no specific exemptions for charities or not-for-profits under the Act, it will only apply to certain large organizations that meet the threshold of being a “reporting entity”, as discussed in our May 2023 Charity & NFP Law Update. Commencing in 2024, reporting entities must submit a report to the Minister of Public Safety on or before May 31^st of each year. The Guidance lists mandatory information to be included in the report, such as an organization’s structure, policies, training, assessments, and steps taken to “prevent and reduce the risk that forced labour or child labour is used” in the production or importation of goods.

Regulatory Changes under Ontario’s Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 

The Ontario Government has amended Ontario Regulation 137/15, General under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 to further protect the safety of children. In particular, all licensed child care operators are required to have a Safe Arrival and Dismissal Policy (the “Policy”) in place by January 1, 2024. The Policy would carefully monitor when a child does not arrive at the licensed child care program or is not picked up as expected.

Section 50 of the Regulation sets out that the Policy should provide that the child may only be released to individuals specified by a child’s parent, or in accordance with written permission from a child’s parent to release the child from the program at a specified time without supervision. In addition, the Policy should set out steps that must be taken if a child does not arrive, or is not picked up, as expected at the child care centre or home child care premises.

Section 11.1 of the Regulation was also amended as of January 1, 2024 to clarify that child care staff who are employed and complete their educational placement in their current place of work may continue to be counted as a staff member, allowing educational programs where staff are enrolled to determine the experiential learning requirements for students. This regulatory clarification will reduce barriers to obtaining an Early Childhood Educator placement and support Ontario’s Child Care Workforce Strategy.

​Read the January 2024 Charity & NFP Law Update