The
Fourteenth Report of the Standing Committee on Foreign
Affairs and
International
Trade
Government Response to the Fourteenth Report
CCSRC
presentation to the Policy Roundtables on CSR in the
Canadian
Extractive
Sector Vancouver June 14 – 15 2006
CCSRC Report:
CSR in the International Canadian Extractive
Sector: A Survey
Release Date: September 7 2006
Building on the momentum of the SCFAIT hearings and
the Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) in the Canadian Extractive sector, the Canadian
Centre for the Study of Resource Conflict (CCSRC)
undertook quantitative research to measure the level
of CSR among Canadian extractive sector companies.
To date, little has been known about the state of
CSR – in any of its many permutations - among
Canadian companies in the extractive sector.
Out of a possible field of 584 companies, 202 companies
responded to the survey.
Results of the study have shown that voluntary CSR
among Canadian oil, gas, mining and exploration companies
remains remarkably low. A total of 27% of companies
reached by the survey had operational CSR policies.
Among the companies with CSR policies, a significant
majority are creating their own sets of principles
which may not have independent evaluation mechanisms.
Out of all of the companies that had operational CSR
policies 77% had developed the policies internally
rather than adopting an external (internationally
recognized) framework.
Companies which do have formal policies have experienced
positive outcomes which should make implementing a
CSR policy a prudent business decision.
Within the industry, adherence to recognized international
frameworks is notably low despite government efforts
to promote specific CSR principles such as the OECD
Guidelines for Multinationals. Only three companies
(5%) cited using the OECD Guidelines as a development
framework for their CSR policy.
Centre Test Pages
