Canada’s National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct Annual Report 2025

Summary

In 2025, Canada’s National Contact Point (NCP) continued to advance responsible business conduct (RBC) in line with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct (Guidelines). The Guidelines, endorsed by 52 governments, set expectations for responsible business conduct across areas such as human rights, labour, the environment, anti-corruption, and transparency, and emphasize risk-based due diligence to prevent and address adverse impacts.

As part of the global network of NCPs established by adhering governments, Canada’s NCP promotes awareness of the Guidelines, facilitates dialogue to help resolve concerns related to corporate conduct, and contributes to strengthening the effectiveness and credibility of the OECD RBC system.

Throughout 2025, the NCP focused on three key priorities:

• Effective and transparent case handling
• Outreach and promotion of responsible business conduct standards
• Strengthening Canada’s engagement within the OECD RBC framework

Case handling

Canada’s NCP continued to provide a forum for addressing concerns related to corporate conduct through the specific instance process.

Cases under assessment in 2025

• A case involving a group of individuals and an academic institution concerning the application of responsible business conduct standards to institutional investment practices, including the exercise of due diligence in pooled investment funds and considerations related to academic partnerships (received December 2024).
• A case involving a non-governmental organization and a company operating in the logistics and warehousing sector in Canada concerning allegations related to labour rights, including freedom of association and collective bargaining (received November 2025).

Cases concluded in 2025

• EarthRights International and a Myanmar-based CSO / MTI Energy Inc.
  In 2025, the NCP issued a Final Statement concluding a case concerning the company’s reported pursuit of Chevron’s interest in the Yadana natural gas project in Myanmar. The complaint raised questions regarding human rights due diligence in relation to the proposed transaction. Although the acquisition did not proceed, the NCP considered that the issues raised regarding the company’s approach to responsible business conduct warranted further examination. The NCP recommended that the company adopt a publicly available human rights policy commitment and enhance transparency regarding its human rights due diligence practices.
• JBB-JFI / Genetec
  In 2025, the NCP issued a Final Statement concluding this case with recommendations encouraging Genetec to strengthen transparency around its human rights commitments. In particular, the NCP recommended that the company consider consolidating its human rights policy into a single publicly available statement aligned with the expectations of the Guidelines and provide greater information on how its human rights due diligence processes are implemented in practice. The NCP initiated follow-up to monitor progress on these recommendations, a report of which will be published in early 2026.
• Parallel Mining Corp. / United Tegaru Canada
  In 2025, the NCP issued a Follow up Statement regarding recommendations made in its 2024 Final Statement. The case concerned allegations that the company’s operations in Ethiopia could be linked to adverse human rights impacts in the context of the Tigray conflict. The NCP offered good offices and facilitated a dialogue between the parties. In its Final Statement, the NCP recommended that the company strengthen transparency regarding its human rights due diligence and broader responsible business conduct practices. The 2025 follow-up noted developments related to the company’s project activities and encouraged continued attention to the implementation and communication of human rights due diligence.

Outreach and promotion

Promoting awareness of the OECD Guidelines remains a central component of the NCP’s mandate. In 2025, the NCP organized 6 outreach meetings and participated in 9 external events to promote responsible business conduct and the role of the NCP.

Engagement with business

The NCP engaged with companies across sectors including mining, energy, cleantech, and financial services. Highlights included:

• participation in the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto, including training for over 50 Canadian Trade Commissioners on the Guidelines
• engagement with companies at the Global Energy Show in Calgary and Carbon Capture Canada in Edmonton and
• a discussion with TMX Group on responsible business conduct priorities, OECD tools, and the role of capital markets in promoting responsible business practices

Engagement with civil society and labour organizations

The NCP maintained dialogue with civil society and labour organizations, including:

• the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability,
• NCP Social Partners
• the Responsible Sourcing Committee and Global Compact Network Canada

Government collaboration

The NCP engaged with government partners, including several meetings with the NCP Committee, teams within Global Affairs Canada, FinDev Canada, and the Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee for the Trans Mountain Expansion project, to support collaboration and awareness of Canada’s responsible business conduct framework.

Canada’s Engagement within the OECD responsible business conduct system

Canada remained actively engaged in the work of the OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct (WPRBC) and the NCP Network throughout 2025. Through these forums, Canada contributed to:

• international policy discussions
• peer learning among NCPs
• ongoing efforts to strengthen the effectiveness and visibility of the OECD responsible business conduct framework

Canada supported the work of the OECD Responsible Business Conduct Centre through its annual voluntary contribution, contributing to analytical work and policy dialogue on emerging responsible business conduct issues. The NCP also facilitated Canada’s representation in the OECD’s Informal Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Group, established to support the development of new OECD guidance on responsible business conduct and development co-operation.

As part of the spring meetings of the WPRBC, the Canadian delegation organized an event during which Canada’s Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise delivered a presentation and participated in a question-and-answer session on the challenges and opportunities related to non-judicial dispute resolution.

In 2025, Canada participated in the OECD peer review of Italy’s NCP, alongside the Croatian NCP. This marked the sixth time Canada’s NCP has served as a peer reviewer.