Plan International Canada Inc.
Statement Regarding Modern Slavery - Fiscal Year 2023

We welcome the Fighting Against Forced Labour in Supply Chains Act 2023 (the “Act”) and the duty it places on large organizations, including Plan International Canada, to disclose publicly the steps they are taking to prevent modern slavery in their own organizations and in their supply chains.

As a global children’s charity, we strive for a just world that advances children's rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every single child. But we also know that this is all too often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion, and discrimination, with modern slavery one of the most extreme examples of these denials of basic rights

As with other forms of violence and exploitation, girls are often the most affected by certain forms of modern slavery. Girls and women account for around 53 per cent of the 50 million victims of forced labour and forced marriage and unions, and each year 12 million girls are married before the age of 18.

We see the fight against modern slavery as key to the global struggle for human rights that is fundamental to our purpose: to make sure that all children can grow up enjoying their rights. We therefore welcome this chance to affirm our commitment to doing all we can to prevent modern slavery.

Plan International Canada is a member of Plan International, Inc., a global organization dedicated to advancing children’s rights and equality for girls. Plan International has been building powerful partnerships with and for children for over 85 years and is now active in more than 80 countries. Plan International draws on this experience to support evidence-based advocacy on modern slavery through its role as co-chair of the global Child Labour Task Force under the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action.

Plan International Canada helps ensure that children can access their rights to education; health care; safety, protection and participation; nutrition and well-being; and dignity and protection in emergencies. The safety and welfare of children, young people, and those facing discrimination and violence is at the heart of our work and many of our projects fight against modern slavery. We have humanitarian and long-term development programming that seeks to prevent and respond to exploitative child labour, as well as child trafficking, recruitment of children into armed groups and forced marriage.

We recognize that modern slavery is both a grave human rights violation and a truly global problem and that some of the countries in which we work face particular challenges in the context of modern slavery. We are committed to making sure that our activities and our decisions do not in any way contribute to modern slavery in any of its forms: child and forced labour, human trafficking, slavery and servitude.

This statement is published on our website, and we are registered on the Public Safety Canada website.

Our Structure, Activities and Supply Chains

Structure and Activities

Plan International Canada Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation incorporated under the Canada Not-forProfit Corporations Act and a registered charity under the Income Tax Act (Canada). Plan International Canada is a member of Plan International, a global children’s charity.

Our international programs are delivered through the Plan International country offices across the world. Plan International Canada, along with other member organizations of Plan International, manage and fund these programs through a range of granting agencies. We enter into contracts with these granting agencies and provide grant management support to the country offices which directly implement the programs.

Plan International Canada is governed by our Board of Directors, which is responsible for setting our strategic direction, as well as for our overall governance.

Our Supply Chains

Plan International Canada

We use suppliers to support our Canadian operations and to enable us to carry out our charitable purposes. These suppliers are principally based in Canada, and range from suppliers providing fundraising, technology, auditing and recruitment services and office facilities. Our suppliers are required to adhere to all applicable legislation including Employment Standards and Occupational Health and Safety legislation. We are not involved in the manufacturing, growing, extracting, or processing of goods, or direct retail activities, and the distribution of products is ancillary to our primary charitable purposes; therefore, we are not at high risk of modern slavery occurring directly in our supply chains. Furthermore, we primarily partner with other charitable and civil society organizations that are aligned with our purpose and mission of striving for a world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls and thus protects against any exploitation of children and program participants, including forced labour.

As part of our commitment to identifying and mitigating risk of forced and child labour, we undertake partner due diligence before we partner with another organization to carry out our work. We do so in accordance with Plan International’s Global Corporate Partnerships Ethical Engagement Policy and Plan Canada’s Gift/Corporate Sponsorship Acceptance and Recognition Policy which require that detailed ethical screening procedures are carried out prior to accepting to work with certain partners. Those policies explicitly identify the “provision of child labour and/or exploitive labour practices” as a high-risk factor in the consideration of a potential partnership.

Once the due diligence process is complete, Plan International Canada requires all partners to enter into agreements that include an obligation for the partner to abide by Plan Canada’s Safeguarding Policy, which includes a Safeguarding and Preventing Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse Code of Conduct. Our Safeguarding Policy requires partners, staff, volunteers and Board members to agree to “create and maintain an environment which prevents violence abuse and exploitation of children and program participants” and to “comply with all relevant international standards and local legislation in relation to child labour, and refrain from using children (those aged below 18 years) for domestic or other labour, if such work is inappropriate, exploitative, or harmful given their age or developmental capacity, which interferes with their time available for education and recreational activities, or which places them at significant risk of injury, exploitation, or violence, or to use a program participant of any age for domestic or other labour.”

Our supplier contracts include Guidelines for Implementing Safeguarding Practices to protect children and program participants, as well as our Supplier Code of Conduct and Whistleblowing Policy and Reporting Procedures.

Plan Canada’s Whistleblowing Policy and Code of Conduct also applies to all Plan Canada employees, Board members, volunteers, interns, and representatives of partner organizations engaged by Plan Canada. Our Whistleblowing Policy has clear processes for reporting concerns about potential or suspected unethical and/or illegal conduct or activity, irregularities, wrongdoings or dangers at work.

Plan International, Inc.

We have a limited and indirect role in the distribution of medical, hygiene, food and other products in low and middle-income countries as part of our humanitarian work. Plan International, in which we are a member organization, manages the procurement and distribution of these products.

Plan International has developed a detailed Supply Chain Operations Manual which includes a requirement for all Plan International offices to incorporate modern slavery prevention measures into their supply chain processes including: vetting and pre-qualification prior to being registered on the supplier database; inclusion of prevention measures in supplier agreements and the supplier management process; conducting regular risk assessments of their supply chains to identify modern slavery concerns; and having measures in place to address any concerns that may arise.

Our Due Diligence

As part of our commitment to identifying and mitigating risk we undertake partner due diligence before we partner with another organization to help carry out our work. The principles and processes required to be followed in carrying out partner due diligence are established in our Global Policy on Corporate Partnership Ethical Engagement. This Policy requires that an ethical assessment be carried out on potential new corporate partnerships and existing partnerships at the renewal stage when there is a material change in the corporate partner’s business/operations or ownership, among other considerations. It identifies the provision of child labour and/or exploitive labour practices as a high-risk factor in this ethical assessment.

Plan International has policies and procedures in place to oversee its procurement of goods and services, is committed to ongoing risk assessment of its supply chains regarding modern slavery and has measures in place to address any concerns that may arise. In addition, its recruitment policies address concerns that may arise regarding modern slavery.

Our Policies and Supplier Agreements

Plan International Canada’s Supplier Code of Conduct has been updated to specifically include concerns about labour and human rights including slavery, forced labour, human trafficking, unfair working practices or inhumane working conditions.

Our safeguarding mission is to create a safe and inclusive culture that allows children, program participants, staff, associates and visitors to feel secure while engaging with Plan International Canada and its programs. This includes making sure that all our partners, suppliers, employees, volunteers and Board members abide by our Code of Conduct and Safeguarding Policy. We provide mandatory training on safeguarding for all employees and regular volunteers including Board members. This training emphasizes the importance of raising safeguarding concerns and makes our employees and volunteers aware of how they can do this. It also includes discussion of some of the ways in which children and adult program participants can be at risk from sexual exploitation, harassment and abuse.

Our Gift and Commercial Sponsorship Acceptance and Recognition Policy (GSARP) requires that, before accepting a gift or commercial sponsorship, we carry out an ethical assessment of the donor or sponsor to ensure compliance with the principles set out in our Global Policy on Corporate Partnership Ethical Engagement. A detailed approval process is outlined in our GSARP.

Incidents in FY23

We have had no reports of modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains in our financial year ending 30 June 2023.

Our Commitment

We are committed to continuing our work to review and monitor our policies, procedures, agreements, and training, and to doing all that we can to make sure that contributing to modern slavery has no place in Plan International Canada.

This statement is made pursuant to the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains (Bill S-211) and constitutes our slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 30 June 2023.