ICMM - International Council on Mining and Metals : New recommendations published for transparency in Canada’s mining industry

Canadian exploration and mining associations, in collaboration with civil society, have released recommendations for developing a payment transparency standard for all publicly-traded mining companies in Canada.

The Resource Revenue Transparency Working Group - consisting of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), Publish What You Pay-Canada (PWYP-Canada) and the Revenue Watch Institute - developed and finalized the recommendations for Canada's mining industry. The recommendations are the result of more than a year of multi-stakeholder consultations across Canada, and take into account expert guidance and a public comment process.

Government implementation of the recommendations will provide people with valuable information about payments from companies to governments in countries that produce minerals. Increased transparency will allow citizens and media to hold governments to account for the revenues generated from mining activities and help to ensure that these revenues contribute to sustainable development and poverty reduction.

"Transparency of payments to governments will highlight the financial contributions and benefits that come from resource development," said Ross Gallinger, Executive Director of PDAC.

"In Canada, we have been able to work with industry to find common ground through a unique collaboration, which I hope provides a model for future co-operation," said PWYP-Canada Director Claire Woodside. "Canada now has the opportunity to take this common ground and create a robust payment reporting standard that will see Canada take a much stronger lead on global transparency efforts."

The recommendations aim to bring Canada in line with emerging global reporting standards such as those recently passed into law in the United States and European Union.

"The framework is consistent with existing laws in the European Union and the United States and moves us a big step closer to a global standard," said Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of MAC. "A global standard is critical for this type of disclosure to create a level playing field for companies. It is also essential to ensure this data is consistently reported between countries for it to be truly useful to communities who wish to use it to hold their governments accountable for the responsible use of mineral revenues."

Close to 60 per cent of the world's mining companies are listed on Canadian stock exchanges, with more than 1,000 companies operating in over 100 countries.

"We urge the federal and provincial governments in Canada adopt these recommendations not only to bring the obvious advantages of transparency to Canada, but also because they will benefit so many poor people living in resource-rich, developing nations," said Daniel Kaufmann, President of the Revenue Watch Institute.