Question Period Note: CUSMA - Labour

Labour and CUSMA

• The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement includes a comprehensive chapter on labour that is fully enforceable.

• This chapter aims to level the playing field on labour standards and working conditions in North America, and contains commitments to ensure national laws and policies provide protection for fundamental principles and rights at work.

• The Agreement also includes an innovative Facility-Specific Rapid-Response Labour Mechanism between Canada and Mexico to address specific issues related to collective bargaining and freedom of association in a timely manner.

• Canada is committed to supporting Mexico's historic labour reform efforts, which will help protect North American workers' rights and help level the playing field for Canadian workers.
• To this end, in the Economic and Fiscal Snapshot 2020 released on July 8, Canada announced funding of $27.5 million over four years to support Mexico's implementation of the Agreement's labour provisions.

The Canada-United States-Mexico-Agreement (CUSMA) includes a comprehensive and enforceable labour chapter that aims to raise and improve labour standards and working conditions in all three countries by building on international labour principles and rights.

The labour chapter includes new provisions to prohibit the importation of goods produced by forced labour; obligations regarding discrimination based on sex, including with regard to pregnancy, sexual harassment, sexual orientation, gender identity and caregiving responsibilities; and, provisions to address violence against workers exercising their labour rights and ensure that migrant workers are protected under labour laws.

To address the main labour rights violations in Mexico (specifically, the use of “protection contracts” or employer-dominated union agreements), the chapter also includes an Annex on Worker Representation in Collective Bargaining in Mexico, under which Mexico commits to specific legislative actions to provide for the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.

In addition, Canada established a facility-specific rapid-response labour mechanism with Mexico, which will allow Canada to request an inspection of a specific facility based on a good faith belief that obligations related to freedom of association and collective bargaining are not respected in a covered facility.

Canada is also working closely with Mexico to support its CUSMA-related labour reforms, including through the Canada-Mexico Bilateral Labour Working Group. The Working Group was formed in August 2019 to strengthen bilateral cooperation and identify opportunities for Canadian support and technical expertise.

Recently, as part of Canada's Economic and Fiscal Snapshot, in July 2020, the Government committed $27.5 million over four years, starting in 2021, to support the implementation of Mexico's labour reform and its CUSMA labour obligations.

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