Door Still Open? Canada As Safe Harbour For Multinational Human Rights Litigation

We have written over the past two years about a growing wave of significant lawsuits in Canada against corporations for alleged international labour and human rights violations in their overseas operations or supply chains. As we have reported, Canada's judiciary is demonstrating a willingness to expand their jurisdictional reach to permit such claims to proceed. Canadian judges are keeping an open mind as to whether a novel duty of care exists between multinational companies and the upstream foreign supply chain workers or the local residents affected by their operations. Our courts and NGOs have also queried whether longstanding principles of corporate liability in Canada are due for an update.