On September 29, 2025, PBI-Canada and PBI-Mexico accompanied two representatives from Espacio OSC at a meeting in Ottawa with Terrence Cowl, the Deputy Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE).
The non-governmental organization Above Ground along with the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability have highlighted concerns about the CORE position having been left vacant for the past ten months.
This week The Globe and Mail reported: “The United Nations Committee on Human Rights, which includes representatives from the United States, France and Spain, criticized [on Monday March 23] Ottawa for failing to fill the post of a watchdog whose job was to investigate human rights abuses by Canadian companies operating abroad.”
The newspaper noted: “’The Committee recommended that Canada urgently appoint a new Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise and ensure the office’s independence and adequate resources,’ the panel said in its report.”
It adds: “The panel [also] called on Canada to ‘strengthen mechanisms to ensure that business enterprises under its jurisdiction respect human rights standards, including when operating abroad.’”
The Globe and Mail now reports: “Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says [on Wednesday March 25] a federal watchdog that polices Canadian corporate conduct abroad remains ‘important’ and said Ottawa is trying to find a new top executive to lead the office that has lacked a permanent head for nearly two years.”
Strengthening CORE
On November 14, 2024, Mary Lawlor, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, posted comments she made earlier in the month “calling for the significant strengthening of the CORE.”
Lawlor highlighted: “I have long-standing concerns, however, as to the adequacy of the CORE, in its current form, to provide any adequate form of redress for human rights defenders and the communities they represent when their rights have been violated or been put at risk by Canadian companies operating abroad. This has been reflected in conversations I have had with human rights defenders since taking up my mandate, who, where aware of the CORE, have repeatedly told me they have no confidence in its effectiveness.”
Among her four recommendations, Lawlor calls on the Government of Canada to: “Provide the CORE with legally enforceable powers to compel evidence and testimony from companies, in line with international standards and best practice on ombudspersons’ offices, to enable effective investigations of all cases and overcome the barriers presented when companies refuse to meaningfully engage with the CORE.”
We continue to follow this.
