Canada Pushed Back on Trump's Forced Labour Tariffs, But Your Compliance Work Isn't Done

Canada told the Trump administration that our existing forced labour legislation should keep us off the tariff list. The federal government’s submission to the USTR pointed to Bill S-211 (the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act) and other measures as proof we’re serious about supply chain due diligence.

That’s the diplomatic line. For Canadian importers, the work is more involved.

What Bill S-211 Actually Requires

Bill S-211 came into force in January 2024. It requires certain entities to report annually on their efforts to prevent and reduce forced labour and child labour in their supply chains. “Certain entities” means businesses and government institutions that meet size thresholds (producing, selling, or distributing goods in Canada; listed on a Canadian stock exchange; or doing business in Canada with revenue or assets above specified levels).

The first reports were due May 31, 2024. A lot of importers scrambled to figure out whether they were caught, what counts as “reasonable efforts,” and what happens if they file nothing.

Here’s what it is NOT: it is not a blanket import prohibition like the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). CBSA does have authority under section 136 of the Customs Tariff to prohibit goods made wholly or in part by forced labour, but enforcement has been light. As of early 2025, CBSA had issued very few s.136 prohibitions compared to the thousands of UFLPA detentions CBP runs at U.S. ports every quarter.

Bill S-211 is disclosure, not detention. But that doesn’t mean you skip it.

The U.S. Angle Matters More for Most Canadian Importers

If you’re importing into Canada and then shipping finished goods into the U.S., or if your supply chain touches Xinjiang-origin inputs anywhere upstream, the U.S. UFLPA is the sharper edge. CBP presumes goods from Xinjiang are made with forced labour and detains them at the border unless you can prove otherwise with documentary evidence.

We’ve seen Canadian manufacturers get caught flat-footed when their U.S. customers’ shipments sit in detention at the port because a Tier 3 supplier in the BOM used Xinjiang cotton or polysilicon. The detention doesn’t happen at the Canadian border on import; it happens at the U.S. border on export. But the compliance work has to start upstream when you’re sourcing.

If you’re filing CADs for imports into Canada, CBSA is not currently running the same presumption-of-detention model. But if those goods later move to the U.S., your customer’s customs broker there will need full supply chain documentation, and CBP will hold the shipment until they get it.

What “Supply Chain Due Diligence” Means in Practice

The phrase sounds like compliance theatre until you’re the one trying to produce the documentation.

For Bill S-211 reporting, “reasonable efforts” typically means: mapping your supply chain beyond Tier 1, identifying high-risk sectors and geographies, getting supplier attestations, and having a remediation process if you find forced labour indicators. The report is public. If you file boilerplate nonsense, it shows.

For UFLPA compliance (if your goods touch the U.S.), you need: full supply chain mapping to raw material origin, supplier declarations, third-party audits in some cases, and evidence that inputs did NOT come from Xinjiang. CBP wants names, addresses, and production records. “We trust our supplier” is not documentation.

For CBSA s.136 risk (currently low but not zero), the standard is similar: if CBSA decides to prohibit entry of goods under s.136, you’d need to prove the goods were not made with forced labour. That’s the same evidence pile you’d build for UFLPA.

The practical move: build the documentation once, use it for all three regimes. Start with your Tier 1 suppliers and work backward. Get written attestations. If you’re in apparel, electronics, solar, cotton, tomatoes, or polysilicon, assume you’ll need to prove clean sourcing.

The Customs Broker’s Role

When goods arrive at a Canadian port or cross-dock warehouse (we work with FENGYE’s Montreal sufferance facility on a lot of import freight), the broker files the CAD and the goods release. Right now, CBSA is not systematically flagging high-risk supply chains for s.136 review the way CBP flags UFLPA goods.

But the documentation you give your broker matters. If you’re importing goods that carry forced labour risk and you have zero supply chain due diligence on file, that’s a problem waiting to happen, either at the Canadian border if CBSA enforcement ramps up, or at the U.S. border when your finished goods move south.

We tell clients: if you’re required to file a Bill S-211 report, treat that as the floor, not the ceiling. Build the supplier attestation trail now. If a CBSA officer ever asks, or if your U.S. customer’s broker needs proof, you want the file ready.

For compliance program design, this is not a one-time checklist. It’s ongoing supplier management. When you onboard a new supplier, forced labour due diligence is part of the vendor questionnaire. When you switch sources for a raw material, you re-document.

Where This Is Heading

Canada’s submission to the USTR is political signaling. It says “we have laws, don’t lump us in with high-risk jurisdictions.” That might keep Canada off a tariff list in this round.

But for Canadian importers, the compliance obligation is already here. Bill S-211 reporting is mandatory for in-scope entities. UFLPA is enforced every day at U.S. ports. CBSA has s.136 authority and will use it when political pressure or specific cases warrant.

Don’t wait for a detention or a CBSA prohibition notice. Map your supply chain now, get supplier attestations, and document your due diligence. If you’re filing annual reports under Bill S-211, make them substantive. If you’re exporting to the U.S., assume CBP will ask for proof.

Most forced labour compliance failures aren’t bad intent. They’re documentation gaps and no visibility past Tier 1. We run due diligence reviews for Canadian importers every week. Talk to us.

Source: CSCB