A report recently published by two credible UK-based organizations offers evidence that the Canada Pension Plan is passively investing in at least twelve companies involved in Uyghur forced labour programs and construction of internment camps in China.

According to Hong Kong Watch (HKW) and the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice, the Canada Pension Plan currently invests $14 billion in two equity indices which hold shares in companies profiting from Uyghur slave labour prisoners in China. 

Titled Passively Funding Crimes Against Humanity, the report alleges that the MSCI China Index and the MSCI Emerging Market Index hold these companies.  Both of these indices are listed as CPP holdings in its Globe Equity Index Exposure report as of March 31st, 2022.

What does this slave labour involve? It underpins nearly every industry in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), from solar panels to agricultural production and processing. Factories are surrounded by razor wire fences, iron gates and security cameras. “Militarized discipline”, coercive land transfers and a forced labour transfer out of the region led the Chinese Institute on Wealth and Economics in 2019 to suggest “the possibility of genocidal intent”.

On November 30th we presented a letter to John Graham, CPP Investments President and CEO. We are asking him to do three things:

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1. Investigate the HKW report allegations;
2. Report back to Canadians within 30 days with his findings;
3. Redeem the $14 billion in the two equity indices if indeed savings of Canadian retirees are being used to support companies involved in repression against the Uyghur ethnic minorities.

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Please sign our petition to support our efforts to assure that Canada Pension Plan money is not used to
support Uyghur slave labour camps.