Canadian lawyers urge crackdown over Alabama prison labour imports
As Ottawa faces pressure from the Trump administration to tighten its scrutiny of imports made with forced labour, Canadian human rights lawyers are pointing the finger at companies south of the border.
Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR) has filed a complaint with the Competition Bureau against four companies they claim import goods from Alabama made with forced labour.
The group submitted the complaint in May. It alleges the companies used incarcerated workers through Alabama's prison labour program, and that the state's work release programs qualify as forced labour under Canadian law.
"It's basically modern-day slavery," said James Yap, president of CLAIHR, citing a two-year investigation by The Associated Press, multiple documentaries, reports and lawsuits in which current and former inmates allege they are forced to work for little pay, punished for refusing work or fired for reasons beyond their control.
Inmates have also alleged that they were denied parole after refusing to work.
"Those conditions amount to coercion that essentially pushes people into work release jobs and forces them to remain there," Meredith Stewart, litigation director with Jobs to Move America, told CBC News. The organization launched a lawsuit over prison labour goods getting into California.
Jobs to Move America spoke extensively with inmates in Alabama, including conducting over 600 surveys with those inmates, Stewart says.
Alabama officials have maintained that the program is voluntary and helps prepare incarcerated workers for re-entry into society. CBC News reached Alabama Corrections for comment but did not receive a response by deadline.
Why the Competition Bureau?The complaint names four entities: lumber company Canfor, automakers Hyundai Canada and Kia Canada and door-manufacturer Masonite International. Using data from The Associated Press investigation and records from the Alabama Department of Corrections, it alleges that these companies either directly, or through suppliers, used prison labour and made false claims to the contrary in their annual reports under Canada's Supply Chains Act.
That Act requires large companies to report on how they are keeping forced labour out of their supply chains, but Yap says these reports are not scrutinized.
In a statement to CBC News, a Public Safety Canada spokesperson acknowledged that the law is focused on transparency and reporting.
"The reporting exercise is intended to encourage transparency, not to penalize entities for having identified risks in their activities and supply chains," the spokesperson said.
While it's illegal to import goods made with forced labour, critics say enforcement is lacking. Yap says this complaint is his group's attempt to force accountability.
"Making these statements that there is no forced labour in their business operations' supply chains, when in fact they're linked to forced prison labour in Alabama, is a violation of competition law," he said.
In statements to CBC News, Hyundai and Kia both said they are complying with all labour laws and expect suppliers to do the same. Hyundai added that its supplier code of conduct expressly forbids the use of forced labour at any stage of production.
Neither company commented on the claim that the Alabama work-release program is forced labour.
"In the past, certain U.S. mills participated in state-organized work release programs," a statement from Canfor says. "These programs were voluntary, paid and designed primarily to support individuals' reintegration and transition back into the community following release. We no longer participate in these community programs."
Meanwhile Owens Corning, who acquired Masonite International in 2024, both in a statement to CBC News and in its modern slavery reporting admitted that the company used prison labour at one of its facilities and that products from that facility made their way into Canada.
Owens-Corning said it stopped using the program after the acquisition, ensured standard wages were paid and combed through its suppliers list to ensure that all were in compliance.
But Yap says that the company should be held accountable for the false claims under Masonite's previous reporting. His group is asking the competition commissioner to investigate all four companies and, if the complaint is deemed valid, to levy fines and ask them to issue clarifications.
"Canada has an obligation not to be involved or not to encourage the use of forced labour anywhere in the world by importing and letting Canadian consumers purchase the products of forced labour," he said.
Former Liberal MP John McKay and Sen. Julie Miville-Dechêne, who sponsored the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act, support the complaint. In a letter attached to the submission, they express optimism that the annual reports, mandated through their bill — which became law in 2023 — can lead to accountability.
"These reports are also a source of information for a range of other actors, including the press and NGOs dedicated to combating modern slavery, as well as banks and investors who consult these reports to evaluate investment risks," they wrote.
The Competition Bureau would not confirm if it has ever looked into any company's modern slavery reports, saying that the nature of its investigations are confidential.
Lawyer calls for 'principled enforcement'The University of Toronto's international human rights program also filed a complaint in April with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), asking them to investigate specific goods coming into the country made in part by Alabama prison labour. Researchers combed through Alabama Department of Corrections records and matched them with suppliers that bring goods into the country.
"This really underscores the need for consistent and principled and good faith enforcement," said Nabila Khan, a human rights lawyer and research associate with the program.
In recent months, the federal Liberals have drawn criticism for initially dodging questions about forced labour in China, after the prime minister made a deal to allow a fixed number of Chinese electric vehicle imports into the country with a reduced tariff rate.
"Discussions about forced labour and prison labour tend to focus on global supply chains in the Global South — factories in Southeast Asia or agricultural fields in Latin America. But the use of prison labour in the U.S., which often happens under very coercive and exploitative conditions, receives far less attention," Khan said.
CBSA tells CBC News it is reviewing the concerns, but would not say if it is investigating any one company, "to avoid compromising the integrity of the investigative process."
Khan also acknowledges it is a sensitive time for Canada to crack down on goods coming from the U.S. as the countries are embroiled in tense negotiations over the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement renewal. On forced labour specifically, the U.S. highlighted Canada's alleged lax enforcement as a trade irritant, and threatened to level a 10 per cent tariff on non-CUSMA compliant goods over it.
Last week, the federal government tabled a new bill it says will tighten its scrutiny of imports. If passed, it will empower the minister of foreign affairs to create a list of goods and regions at high risk of using forced labour. Officials did not give examples of regions that may qualify but both Khan and Yap called for consistency and fairness.
"I think it's really a test of whether Canada's forced labour and prison labour bans have teeth or whether politics or proximity will really outweigh our legal and human rights commitments," Khan said.
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