Result of judicial review further strengthens the need for an empowered CORE to ensure corporate accountability of Canadian companies
As part of a longstanding commitment to improving living and working conditions for Bangladeshi garment workers, the United Steelworkers union (USW) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) jointly filed a complaint with the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) against retailer Mark’s and its parent company Canadian Tire. In this complaint, we argued that the company uses supplier factories in Bangladesh that pay workers less than a living wage, a right that is protected under the international human rights instruments that form the basis of the CORE’s mandate.
In our view, the CORE’s final report on our complaint reflects an approach that undermines this would-be watchdog’s mandate to such a degree, it is difficult to conceive of any human rights abuse it would deem to have jurisdiction to investigate. This is why the USW and the CLC sought a judicial review of this decision.
On Oct. 6, 2025, the federal court dismissed our application for judicial review of the CORE’s final report, ruling that the ombudsperson’s findings are advisory in nature and therefore not justiciable. In his determination, the Honourable Justice Gleason wrote “[…] the CORE has no authority to compel participation in a review or to impose consequences that will impact upon any individual, organization, or community. The CORE is essentially an advisor […]”
Our overall experience with this complaint, including the result of the judicial review, has exposed the ineffectiveness of this office and further strengthens our position that the office of the CORE desperately needs genuine independence and legal powers to fulfil its mandate. Ongoing failure to act in this regard will continue to exhibit the limited intentions of the government to ensure real corporate accountability for Canadian companies operating abroad.
As the Government of Canada considers its financial priorities, we will remind it of the commitment made to Canadians when the creation of the CORE was first announced in 2018. The CORE is a critical component of the government’s commitment to responsible business conduct and to human rights as it is Canada’s only non-judicial mechanism that independently investigates complaints of human rights abuses related to the activity of Canadian companies operating overseas and reports publicly on its findings.
Many Canadian civil society groups called for an ombudsperson office in reaction to the weak grievance mechanism under the National Contact Point (NCP) to handle specific instances where companies may have failed to comply with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprise and the UN Guiding Principles. The process under the NCP is voluntary and non-binding, which highlighted the need for an independent CORE with the power to compel evidence.
With no ombudsperson in place since May 2025, we are urging the government to honour its commitment to Canadians, to human rights and to those affected by the operations of Canadian companies overseas to ensure the CORE soon will be staffed with a new ombudsperson so that it can continue to do its vital work. Secondly, the CORE needs to be empowered with the independence and essential powers needed to effectively investigate allegations of abuse by Canadian corporations and to demand accountability.
