How to prepare for Bill S-211 with Gatekeeper

Bill S-211, otherwise known as the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act, is set to come into force on January 1, 2024.

New reporting obligations will be required if your business is engaged in producing, selling, importing or distributing goods in Canada, whilst meeting certain financial thresholds. These include:

• Having $20 million or more in assets
• Generating $40 million or more in revenue within one of the last two financial years
• Employing 250 or more employees.

If your business fits the criteria above, it will - by law - be required to report on the measures taken to prevent and mitigate the risk of forced or child labour within your supply chain.

If you fail to deliver the report or to prove that there is no forced labour and child labour throughout your supply chain, the director of your business will be fined personally for non-compliance.

The fines can be up to $250,000.

The risk is personal.

The first formalised reporting is required by May 31, 2024. Gatekeeper can help you to get ready.

How to prepare for Bill S-211 with Gatekeeper

Bill S-211 represents a significant step in addressing the issues of forced and child labour within supply chains. It’s also another example of increasing and changing Environmental, Social and Governance regulations that businesses need to quickly adapt to.

By leveraging Gatekeeper's Vendor and Contract Lifecycle Management (VCLM) platform, your business can meet the compliance requirements of Bill S-211 and also foster a culture of ethical and responsible supply chain management.

Let's take a look at how.

Comprehensive Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM)

The Market IQ Suite from Gatekeeper offers third-party risk management (TPRM) and monitoring.

Providing comprehensive and actionable third-party risk intelligence, this feature is crucial for businesses needing understand and identify which vendors post the risk of forced and child labour in their supply chains.

See your vendor risk at a glance with Market IQ Suite

Mandatory Due Diligence Questionnaires

Gatekeeper's Vendor Portal allows you to implement mandatory due diligence questionnaires.

These questionnaires have custom fields so you can personalise them to directly reflect the measures your vendors have in place for Bill S-211.

They are critical in assessing risks related to forced and child labour in supply chains and their mandatory nature will prevent the onboarding of non-compliant vendors.

Delegate mandatory compliance input during onboarding

ESG Best Practice Workflows

So you can measure and understand your vendor’s social impact, we have created a best practice ESG workflow.

It’s designed to help you automate and streamline your vendor assessment processes, so you will be well prepared for the new Bill S-211 deadline. It’s pre-built with an assessment form that covers all four ESG topics; sustainability, environmental impact, social impact and internal governance.

More importantly, it gives you quantifiable and reportable insights which can be used in any submissions made to the Minister of Public Safety on, or before, May 31st.

Watch the video below to see it in action.

A complete and auditable history

Gatekeeper makes it easy when it comes to reporting on required element such as:

• Actions taken to prevent and reduce the risk of forced or child labour occurring
• Your policies and due diligence controls
• Any actions taken to remediate instances of child labour or forced labour

Gatekeeper's Vendor and Contract Lifecycle Platform provides an auditable trail that is essential for vendor reporting purposes.

All activities performed on a contract or against a vendor record are securely recorded in a chronological order. This audit trail is comprehensive, covering all contract and vendor management records, which significantly aids businesses in proving compliance with Bill-S211.

Wrap up

The rigorous demands of Bill S-211 call for a robust and reliable solution to ensure compliance and effective management of vendors. Gatekeeper simplifies and automates these processes while ensuring full compliance with the new regulatory requirements.

If you are seeking to streamline your compliance processes and ensure that your organisation, and its supply chain, is fully prepared for Bill S-211, we encourage you to get in touch with us.