Former prime minister Justin Trudeau created the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, or CORE, in 2019.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has left vacant for 10 months the role of a federal ombudsman whose job is to probe overseas human-rights abuses by Canadian corporations, and Ottawa says the once-heralded watchdog agency remains under review.
The government is also declining to say whether federal budget cuts have affected staff who are responsible for enforcing Ottawa’s forced-labour import laws.
Critics say this suggests Mr. Carney is soft-pedalling human rights as his government promotes trade and economic interests with countries such as China and India.
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau created the agency, called the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, or CORE, in 2019, calling it the first office of its kind in the world. Its role was to probe allegations of human-rights abuses and environmental harms by Canadian companies operating overseas in the mining, oil and garment sectors.
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The first and only permanent head of CORE, Sheri Meyerhoffer, completed her term in April, 2024. Interim ombudsperson Masud Husain replaced her until his term ended on May 20, 2025.
Although the office remains open, it has not published any reports since late 2024.
The Trudeau government first announced a six-month review of the office in 2024, but any results of that process were not released publicly. Global Affairs Canada told The Globe and Mail in 2025 that CORE remained under review, and on Monday a spokesperson said that was still the case.
“A decision regarding the future of the office has yet to be announced further to a review undertaken by Global Affairs Canada,” Kristina Jelinic, director of public affairs at CORE, said in an e-mailed statement.
Among its past investigations, CORE probed alleged use of Uyghur forced labour in China.
When the office was first announced, Ottawa said it would have the power to compel witnesses to give evidence and produce documents, but the government never followed through. It can issue reports but not orders.
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Ms. Meyerhoffer told The Globe she’s concerned the office may be left to die. “It’s intended to uphold our reputation as people who respect human rights and uphold the international rules-based order.”
She said if Mr. Carney has a different vision for CORE, he should make it apparent.
Former Liberal MP John McKay, who spearheaded legislation to combat forced labour, said he’s also worried CORE may be left to ”wither" and disappear. The office has been “decapitated” without an ombudsperson to lead it, he said.
Georgina Alonso, senior research and advocacy officer of Above Ground, a human-rights and corporate-accountability project, said without an ombudsperson CORE is hampered from moving forward on new complaints about companies.
“For the last 10 months, with no ombudsperson, no complaints have been processed. Before that, action on complaints had already slowed significantly,” she said.
“It would be irresponsible of the government to shut down the CORE or simply continue to let it sit idle after significant resources went into opening the office and educating potential complainants on how to use it.”
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Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, senior fellow at the Institute for Science, Society and Policy at the University of Ottawa, said there are worrying signs that the Carney government has no interest in human rights.
Ms. McCuaig-Johnston, who held senior roles in the public service, said she has been told that Ottawa’s budget cuts have resulted in staff reductions at Global Affairs Canada and Economic and Social Development Canada, affecting units in charge of combatting imports of goods made with forced labour.
“I have a lot of contacts in the Canadian government and I am quite comfortable saying that all the forced-labour positions at ESDC and GAC are being wound up with only one communications function continuing,” she said.
Neither Global Affairs or ESDC would say whether public servants responsible for forced-labour compliance are being laid off or shifted to other duties.
“Canada remains committed to eradicating forced labour from supply chains,” GAC spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod said in a statement. “Global Affairs remains staffed to address forced labour.”
Asked to clarify whether forced-labour staff had been laid off or transferred to other duties, Ms. MacLeod said there would be no further comment.
ESDC spokesperson Samuelle Carbonneau would say only that the “workforce reduction process” is continuing and “we expect final decisions to be made no later than this summer.”
Any weakening of Ottawa’s resolve on forced labour could affect Trump administration probes into whether 60 trading partners, including Canada, are failing to block imports of goods made with forced labour.
The investigations under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 could result in the United States imposing tariffs of as much as 25 per cent on goods from countries that it deems are falling short, analysts say.
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Mr. Carney told reporters in Norway last week that Canada has strong safeguards against imports of goods made from forced labour.
But lawyers and activists say Canada could very likely be found to fall short under a U.S. assessment because it has done little to enforce its forced-labour laws.
The House of Commons subcommittee on international human rights heard testimony Monday that the Prime Minister appears to be backtracking on human rights.
Ronald Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, said it was troubling that Mr. Carney agreed during a January visit to Beijing to improve police co-operation. Mr. Deibert asked MPs how Canadian police could co-operate with their Chinese counterparts when China has been a major perpetrator of transnational and digital repression in this country.
He said it was also troubling that Ottawa stayed silent after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on International Criminal Court jurist and Canadian citizen Kimberly Prost.
The United States faulted Ms. Prost for being part of a 2020 ruling authorizing an investigation into war crimes committed in Afghanistan by the Taliban, Afghan forces and members of the U.S. military and Central Intelligence Agency, which operated secret detention facilities.
Editor’s note: Because of an editing error, this article originally gave an incorrect job title for Georgina Alonso. She is the senior research and advocacy officer at Above Ground.