Much of our work touches on the extractive sector due to the significant role Canadian companies play within it and the elevated human rights risks1John Ruggie, the author of the UN’s guiding principles on business and human rights, notes that this sector “is unique because no other [sector] has so enormous and intrusive a social and environmental footprint.” posed by mining and oil and gas extraction. Mining is frequently associated with abuses such as forced displacement of communities, environmental degradation and violent repression of people who protest companies’ activities. Fossil fuel extraction often poses similar risks locally, while also contributing to the accelerating climate crisis that’s threatening peoples’ lives and rights globally.
The Canadian government provides substantial political and financial support to multinationals — loans, equity financing, insurance, political backing and public relations support — through institutions such as its embassies, the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Export Development Canada and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. We encourage the government to adopt policy and legal measures to ensure that it only supports companies that respect human rights in their operations around the globe.
“When a Government, directly or through its export credit agency, fails to exercise due diligence to protect human rights from the potentially harmful behaviour of non-State actors, it is in breach of its obligations under international human rights law.”
– Cephas Lumina, former UN independent expert on foreign debt and human rights
Access to justice
We work to improve access to justice in Canada for people harmed by companies based in Canada or supported by the Canadian government. In many cases, the victims of corporate abuse lack access to impartial domestic courts or other avenues to seek remedy. We advocate for measures to reduce the barriers faced by foreign plaintiffs in bringing claims of corporate abuse before Canadian courts. We also encourage the Canadian government to establish and strengthen non-judicial mechanisms to ensure access to justice for victims of abuse and deter harmful practices in the future.
See our overview of transnational lawsuits in Canada against extractive companies