Why It Matters
We take our responsibility as a leading Canadian retailer seriously, doing our part to uphold human rights and work to eliminate forced labour and child labour in supply chains. We work closely with supplier partners locally, nationally and internationally, collaborating around shared values to provide customers with responsibly sourced products.
Our Approach
We endorse the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Core Conventions of the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Our policies, practices and ongoing commitment to protect human rights have been informed by these international codes and conventions.
Focus on Human Rights in Our Workplaces
We have internal policies and practices in place to ensure human rights are respected and we address labour issues within our own operations. This includes:
- The Empire Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, which requires all teammates working in our business to uphold shared values, act with integrity and comply with all applicable laws and regulations
- Our DE&I and People Strategies, which further embed our commitments to foster inclusive and respectful workplaces
- Our Health and Safety Policy, which embeds our commitment to ensure safe and healthy work environments
- Our new Commitment Statement to Indigenous Peoples Across Canada and Indigenous Relations Policy, which inform our approach to hiring, partnering and reconciliation
Focus on Human Rights in Our Supply Chain
In 2024, in compliance with new federal legislation, we filed our first Fighting Forced Labour and Child Labour Report. The report outlines our due diligence practices, starting with Empire’s Ethical and Sustainable Sourcing Policy (ESSP). Introduced in fiscal 2022, the ESSP includes our expectation that supplier partners address the environmental and social impacts of their products by complying with all applicable laws and regulations and upholding Empire’s standards. It includes our zero-tolerance position on child labour and forced labour, along with a range of related due diligence practices that contribute to the reduction of human rights-related risks in supply chains.
Developing a New Human Rights Due Diligence Program
In fiscal 2025, we intend to create a broader Human Rights Due Diligence Program to address any risks in our supply chain. Program elements will include:
- Identifying the human rights risks for our business and supply chain, with a focus on risks related to forced and child labour
- Reviewing and updating policies and management systems if required
- Working with teammates to build understanding and with supplier partners to support their compliance and mitigate human rights risks
- Tracking progress and communicating about our effectiveness
As we improve our due diligence approach, we will also continue to strengthen existing supplier and purchasing initiatives that support human rights, including our work on sustainable palm oil, sustainable seafood and Fairtrade. Read more in Ethical & Sustainable Sourcing.
Committed to Listening and Improving
Embedded into the ESSP is a grievance mechanism through which employees, suppliers or anyone with concerns can report potential violations. Concerns can be shared confidentially through a third-party ethics hotline or made to a member of the Empire team. The Ethics Line (ClearView Connects) is professionally supported by an organization independent of Empire. All grievances reported through this mechanism are investigated thoroughly and, where appropriate, are directed to our board-level audit committee.
Own Brands Due Diligence
We expect all our supplier partners to uphold ethical practices and we hold our Own Brands suppliers to the same high standard. Prior to being onboarded, Own Brands suppliers are vetted for quality assurance and required to sign off on Supplier Minimum Quality Standards, which includes expectations on ethical manufacturing. Suppliers may also be asked to complete a social compliance audit and are required to report on customer complaints, including labour concerns. For categories with identified risks (including at-risk commodities or country of origin), we encourage our Own Brands suppliers to provide SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) reports, which are housed in our internal database.
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Our commitment to human rights includes staying focused on ethical and sustainable sourcing while always looking out for our people and supplier partners.
As a family nurturing families, we want to ensure Canadians are taken care of today, tomorrow and in the future. By doing OurPartR for the environment, we hope to inspire our customers to do theirs. Every step we take together—big or small—can make a difference.
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