Federal Government Approach

Public policy responsibilities for the different dimensions of CSR are shared between the federal and provincial governments. The municipal governments also play a role. In some cases the federal government has lead responsibility (e.g. on international treaty-making areas such as climate change). In other cases the lead responsibility may rest with the provincial and territorial governments (e.g. in certain areas of labour and corporate governance). In still different cases, local or municipal governments may play a dominant role (e.g. on development of urban infrastructure). Finally, there are areas where there may be a more equitable sharing of responsibility between the different levels of government (e.g. on implementation of environmental protection and health objectives).

The current policy approach by the federal government to CSR involves the full scope of information, voluntary, economic, and regulatory instruments.  CSR has historically been addressed implicitly in specific policy areas such as health and safety, labour relations, and environmental protection.  More recently, improving the social, environmental and economic performance of the corporate sector is being pursued under the auspices of sustainable development.  As indicated below, many areas of CSR in Canada are already covered by public policy actions (as well as by voluntary private sector initiatives) although they are frequently not explicitly labelled as CSR.

Examples of Information on Specific Initiatives

The Federal Government of Canada's current policy approach covers the full suite of information, voluntary, economic, and  regulatory instruments, For example: 

• minimum performance standards are in place in such areas as environmental protection, health and safety, and labour relations
• mandatory reporting is required (e.g. the passage of C-8 requires federally regulated financial institutions with over $1 billion in equity to publish annually a Public Accountability Statement describing their contribution to the Canadian economy and society, including the institutions' community development activities, which is defined in regulations as its economic, cultural, social and environmental enrichment. The Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 requires that companies suppply information on certain pollutant emissions to the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI)).
• fiscal instruments such as tax credits are in place to encourage CSR (e.g. tax credits for corporate charitable giving)
• educational training and professional networks are supported (e.g. educational and technical assistance in the area of eco-efficiency)
• information gathering initiatives are in place to build the knowledge base on SD and CSR (e.g. Statistics Canada gathers information on environmental expenditures in business sector)
• voluntary programs such as theGHG Registries  (formerly VCR Inc.) (e.g. for companies to register their greenhouse gas emission performance and be publicly recognized) and the Accelerated Reduction/ Elimination of Toxic Program are supported.
• In 1995, The Auditor General Act was amended to create the post of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development and to require federal departments to produce sustainable development strategies every three years and to table these in Parliament. Departments outline their action plan commitments with the strategies for advancing SD and CSR in the corporate sector
• Please visit other federal department web sites for more information on diverse CSR-related initiatives:
  • Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
  • Natural Resources of Canada
  • Environment Canada
    • Corporate Environmental Innovation
  • Health Canada
  • Canadian International Development Agency
  • Human Resources and Development Canada