Canada has announced it is eliminating a watchdog set up to investigate human rights violations committed by Canadian companies operating abroad, after Prime Minister Mark Carney labeled it ineffective.

On the face of it, the announcement is in line with Carney’s latest austerity measures; he has said his Liberal party, which remained in power in a surprise election win in 2024, will make cuts in government offices where resources are being used inefficiently. However, the Guardian notes the move comes as Canada faces pressure from Donald Trump’s administration over the issue. In a June 2 release, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said that it had determined that 60 countries — including Canada — had failed to effectively guard against forced labor, and threatened to impose new 10-12.5% tariffs depending on its assessment of forced labor prohibitions.

On June 12, Canada introduced a bill proposing a law that would expand the authority of Ministry of Foreign Affairs to restrict imports suspected of ties to forced labor.

The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (Core) was established in 2019 by former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s government to investigate human rights abuses related to companies doing business in Canada, including the use of forced labor in the Uyghur ethnic minority in China in producing yarn, fabric and other goods.

The Guardian reports that, over its six years, the watchdog has only launched five investigations, including against three U.S. clothing companies with operations in the country – Ralph Lauren, Nike and Levi Strauss – as well as two mining companies: GobiMin and Dynasty Gold Corp. The watchdog also used its mediation mechanism after Hugo Boss faced allegations that it used Uyghur forced labor. Core has only issued formal recommendations against two companies.

Beijing disputes claims it engages in modern-day slavery, despite multiple, ongoing and credible reports that its Xinjiang region engages in state-sponsored forced labor.