In Canada and around the world, businesses are facing mounting pressure to address environmental impacts, such as deforestation and biodiversity loss, and social issues like labour violations, that may occur at distant tiers of their supply chains. Organizations like the United Nations (UN) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have urged state governments to implement mandatory regulations that require companies to identify, prevent, and mitigate risks within their supply chains. The Canadian government has opted for a softer regulatory approach to international business conduct, relying on voluntary business actions over stringent legislation. This research investigates the reasons behind Canada’s lack of comprehensive human rights and environmental due diligence legislation. Using the Discursive Agency Approach (DAA) to policy analysis, this study combines document analysis of legislative texts, advocacy campaigns, policy documents, and media publications with key informant interviews with policymakers, businesses, and civil society advocates. Preliminary results suggest that there are prominent legal and political barriers to implementing mandatory due diligence regulations in Canada, despite early progress with the adoption of Bill S-211 (the Forced Labor in Supply Chains Act). So far, regulations in Canada are considered to be “norm shaping”, and attempt to guide businesses towards better action, before regulations with teeth are implemented. This exploratory study informs on-going policy development on supply chain due diligence regulations as tools to address social and environmental challenges in globalized production systems.
