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Reporting under the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act 2025-2026

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, 2026

Catalogue No. BC9-46E-PDF

ISSN 3111-1580

Table of contents

Part 1: Identifying Information

1.1 Name of Government Institution

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)

This report is not submitted on behalf of a federal Crown corporation or a wholly owned subsidiary.

1.2 Financial Reporting Year (start date, end date)

This report covers the activities undertaken during the CRTC’s April 1, 2025 – March 31, 2026, financial year.

Part 2: Mandatory Report Content

2.1 Structure, Activities and Supply Chains

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is an administrative tribunal with quasi-judicial functions that operates at arm’s length from the federal government and regulates the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in the public interest.

The CRTC holds public consultations and makes decisions based on the public record. The CRTC has a wide range of responsibilities, including under the Telecommunications Act, the Broadcasting Act, the Online News Act, and Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation.

The CRTC has nine members, including a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson for Telecommunications, a Vice-Chairperson for Broadcasting, and six Commissioners who are located across the country. Supporting the Commission’s decision-makers is a team of expert staff.

CRTC’s expenditures for 2025-26 were slightly under $100M including revenue spending authorities with approximately 730 full-time equivalents (FTE).

The CRTC’s purchasing activities are mostly for services and a relatively small amount is spent on goods, such as office supplies, office furniture, ergonomic seating, IT equipment, subscriptions for newsletters and various data sets related to its mandate.

Most goods are purchased using the standard procurement tools of Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and Shared Services Canada (SSC) and are purchased in Canada and outside of Canada.

Since the CRTC mainly relies on PSPC and SSC standard procurement tools, it mainly relies on the measures implemented by these departments to prevent and reduce the risk of forced labour or child labour in their supply chains.

2.2 Steps Taken to Prevent and Reduce the Risk of Forced Labour or Child Labour

The CRTC has integrated PSPC’s updated General Conditions for goods contracts and PSPC’s Code of Conduct for Procurement in our purchasing activities. In addition, to prevent and reduce the risk of forced labour or child labour in our procurements, the CRTC has used the following list of PSPC’s tools:

  • Standing Offers;
  • Supply Arrangements:
    • ProServices,
    • Shared Sevices Canada,
    • GC Cloud Services;
  • Anti-forced labour contract clauses as per policy notification 150 – Anti-forced labour requirements.

Effective November 20, 2023, PSPC updated its procurement tools by including anti-forced labour clauses in all new, amended, or refreshed Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements for goods. This ensures that a broader range of procurement instruments includes these safeguards. The CRTC has implemented those updates as prescribed by PSPC.

2.3 Policies and Due Diligence Processes

Effective April 1, 2023, amendments to the Treasury Board Directive on the Management of Procurement require contracting authorities from all departments to incorporate the Code of Conduct for Procurement (“the Code”). Specifically, this applies to all departments listed in Schedules I, I.1 and II of the Financial Administration Act (except for the Canada Revenue Agency) as well as Commissions established in accordance with the Inquiries Act and designated as a department for the purposes of the Financial Administration Act. The CRTC has integrated the Code into our procurement activities, with a view to safeguarding federal procurement supply chains from forced labour and child labour. All contracts awarded by our organization have included the Code as part of the General Conditions for goods.

The Code requires that vendors, providing goods and services to the Government of Canada and their sub-contractors, comply with all applicable laws and regulations. In addition, the Code requires vendors and their sub-contractors to comply with Canada’s prohibition on the importation of goods produced, in whole or in part, by forced or compulsory labour. This includes forced or compulsory child labour and applies to all goods, regardless of their country of origin.

The prohibition on the importation of goods produced wholly or in part by forced labour came into force under the Customs Tariff on July 1, 2020. This amendment implemented a commitment in the Labour Chapter of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement and applies to all imports, regardless of origin.

2.4 Risk Areas and Measures to Assess and Manage Risk

In May 2021, a risk analysis of PSPC’s supply chains was completed by Rights Lab, of the University of Nottingham (U.K.), to determine which goods were at the highest risk of exposure to human trafficking, forced labour, and child labour. The analysis, and subsequent report, elaborated key strategies for PSPC to leverage public spending power to raise awareness about forced labour in supply chains. We have familiarized ourselves with information on the risk assessment provided by PSPC, and are monitoring related follow-up actions, including the development of a Policy on Ethical Procurement.

2.5 Remediation Measures for Forced Labour or Child Labour

Not applicable, as we have not identified any forced labour or child labour in our activities and supply chains.

2.6 Remediation Measures for Loss of Income to Vulnerable Individuals and Families

Not applicable, as we have not identified any loss of income to vulnerable individuals and families resulting from measures taken to eliminate the use of forced labour or child labour in our activities and supply chains.

2.7 Training Provided to Employees

The CRTC is aware that PSPC is currently raising awareness and developing guidance materials (including risk mitigation strategies) for suppliers, targeted towards high-risk sectors. We are monitoring the development of these materials and will leverage these resources upon their publication.

In addition, the PSPC has developed an online self-paced course for procurement officers titled “Introduction to Ethical Procurement" which was made available on the Canada School of Public Service’s learning platform as of November 2025.  The CRTC now requires that procurement officers complete the course within twelve months of their appointment, and for current procurement officers to complete the course by the end of fiscal year 2026-27.

2.8 Assessment of Effectiveness of Policies and Procedures

The CRTC does not currently have policies and procedures in place to assess its effectiveness in ensuring that forced labour and child labour are not being used in its activities and supply chains. However, since most purchases are done using PSPC and SSC procurement tools, and the CRTC relies on the measures implemented by these departments to prevent and reduce the risk of forced labour or child labour in their supply chains, its exposure to these risks is considered very low.

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