Arjo Canada Inc. Report

On Forced Labour in Canadian Supply Chains

 

1.    Purpose

This report is for the legal entity named Arjo Canada Inc. (hereinafter referred as “Arjo”). It is not a revised version of a report already submitted or a joint report and covers the 2023 fiscal year.

The purpose of this report is to establish Arjo reporting obligations under the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act (hereinafter referred as “Act”) 

2.    Business Overview

Arjo is an entity headquartered in the province of Ontario, Canada, with business number 895700052 and a corporate structure.

Arjo operates its activities in the sectors of construction and distribution of medical devices. The elements used to describe the entity's activities, according to the various options provided in the questionnaire, are as follows:

a)    Selling goods in Canada, distributing; and

b)    distributing goods in and outside of Canada; and

c)     the import into Canada of goods produced outside of Canada.

3.    Reporting Obligations

Arjo is not subject to reporting requirements under supply chain legislation in any other jurisdiction, nor is it listed on a stock exchange in Canada. However, it has a Canadian business presence as it has a place of business in Canada, does business in Canada and has assets in Canada.

It also meets three (3) size-related thresholds: it has at least $20 million in assets for at least one of its two most recent financial years, has generated at least $40 million in revenues for at least one of its two most recent financial years, and employs an average of at least 250 employees for at least one of its two most recent financial years.

4.    Measures

During the previous financial year, the measures taken by Arjo to prevent and reduce the risk that forced labour or child labour is used at any step of the production of goods in Canada or elsewhere by the entity, or goods imported into Canada by the entity, were as follows:

a)    Gathering information on worker recruitment and maintaining internal controls to ensure that all workers are recruited voluntarily;

b)    Addressing practices in the organization’s activities and supply chains that increase the risk of forced labour and/or child labour;

c)     Developing and implementing due diligence policies and processes for identifying, addressing and prohibiting the use of forced labour and/or child labour in the organization’s activities and supply chains;

d)    Requiring suppliers to have in place policies and procedures for identifying and prohibiting the use of forced labour and/or child labour in their activities and supply chains;

e)    Developing and implementing child protection policies and processes;

f)      Developing and implementing anti-forced labour and/or – child labour contractual clauses;

g)    Developing and implementing anti-forced labour and/or – child labour standards, codes of conduct and/or compliance checklists;

h)    Auditing suppliers ;

i)      Monitoring suppliers ;

j)      Developing and implementing training and awareness materials on forced labour and/or child labour; and

k)     Engaging with supply chain partners on the issue of addressing forced labour and/or child labour.

Arjo currently has policies and due diligence processes in place related to forced labour and/or child labour. Arjo has developed a customized Code of Conduct for suppliers and business partners. Based on UN Global Compact, Arjo supports and follows the ten (10) principles that apply to human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption.

The elements of the due diligence process that Arjo has implemented in relation to forced labor and/or child labor are:

a)    Embedding responsible business conduct into policies and management systems;

b)    Identifying and assessing adverse impacts in operations, supply chains and business relationships;

c)     Ceasing, preventing or mitigating adverse impacts;

d)    Tracking implementation and results ;

e)    Communicating how impacts are addressed; and

f)      Providing for or cooperating in remediation when appropriate.

Arjo has identified parts of its activities and supply chains that carry a risk of forced or child labor to the best of its knowledge, and will continue to strive to identify emerging risks.

The aspects of its activities and supply chains for which Arjo has identified forced labour or child labour risks:

a)    The sector or industry it operates in;

b)    The locations of its activities, operations or factories;

c)     The raw materials or commodities used in its supply chains;

d)    Tier one (direct) suppliers ;

e)    The use of outsourced, contracted or subcontracted labour;

f)      The use of forced labour; and

g)    The use of child labour.

Arjo has internal procedures to go through a risk assessment with suppliers that evaluate if the supplier has a code of conduct policy and if it complies to local labor law. While we do not call out the Forced Labour requirements specifically, we do have a detailed supplier selection process.

Whilst Arjo understands that there are risks related to forced labor or child labor in the operation and supply chain of medical device distributing industry, Arjo has not identified any in its activities and therefore, no measures have been taken to remediate forced labor and/or child labor in its activities and supply chains.

In addition thereof, Arjo has not identified any loss of income for vulnerable families and therefore Arjo has not taken any measures to remediate such loss that results from any measure taken to eliminate the use of forced or child labor in its activities and supply chains.

5.    Training

Training on forced labor and/or child labor is provided to all Arjo employees. However, this training is mandatory only for employees who make contracting or purchasing decisions.

Arjo has policies and procedures in place to assess its effectiveness in ensuring that forced labor and child labor are not being used in its activities and supply chains through the following methods:

a)    Setting up a regular review or audit of the organization’s policies and procedures related to forced labour and child labour;

b)    Tracking relevant performance indicators, such as levels of employee awareness, numbers of cases reported and solved through grievance mechanisms and numbers of contracts with anti-forced labour and child labour clauses; and

c)     Working with suppliers to measure the effectiveness of their actions to address forced labour and child labour, including by tracking relevant performance indicators.