Question Period Note: Human Trafficking

How is the Government of Canada working to protect those who are at risk of human trafficking?

• Human trafficking is a highly gendered crime that disproportionately impacts women and girls, including Indigenous women and girls, 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and children and youth, as well as their families and communities.
• The Government of Canada is committed to preventing and addressing all forms of gender-based violence, including supporting those at risk of experiencing and those who have experienced human trafficking.
• In September 2019, the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking was introduced to address this crime. Funding for the National Strategy builds on a previous investment to establish Canada’s Human Trafficking Hotline, a multilingual service operating to connect victims and survivors with social services, law enforcement, and emergency services, and to receive tips from the public.
• On December 15, 2020, the Government of Canada announced $22.4 million in funding for projects designed to prevent and address human trafficking and support at-risk populations and victims, and survivors.
• Budget 2021 includes $105 million over 5 years, starting in 2021-22, for WAGE to enhance its Gender-Based Violence Program, including increased funding for initiatives to stop human trafficking and support at-risk populations and victims and survivors.

• Human trafficking, also referred to as “trafficking in persons,” involves recruiting, transporting, transferring, receiving, holding, concealing, harbouring, or exercising control, direction, or influence over a person, for the purpose of exploitation, generally for sexual exploitation or forced labour.
• Canada has been identified as a source, destination, and transit country for human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labour. Human trafficking is a form of gender-based violence, with women and girls accounting for 97% of police-identified victims in Canada between 2009 and 2018; with 45% of all victims being youth between the ages of 18 and 24, and 28% under the age of 18. Human trafficking disproportionately impacts historically marginalized groups, including Indigenous, Black and LGBTQ2 communities, transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, immigrant workers, and those with precarious immigration status.
• The pandemic has caused greater economic and social vulnerability among individuals already more at risk of being trafficked, moved more people and activity online, and disrupted existing and planned anti-trafficking interventions and help for trafficked individuals. In its July 2021 report, Save the Children emphasized that more clandestine and online activities by traffickers have made victims less visible and less traceable, and have made it harder to track down the criminal groups responsible.
• In September 2019, the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking was launched by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, with investments of $57.22 million over five years and $10.28 million per year ongoing. The National Strategy includes a number of new and expanded initiatives by Public Safety; the Canadian Border Service Agency; Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE); Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada; Public Services and Procurement Canada; and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. It aims to:
o Empower victims and survivors to regain self-confidence and control over their lives;
o Prevent more of these crimes from taking place;
o Better protect those who are most at-risk of being trafficked;
o Prosecute human traffickers for their heinous crimes; and
o Embrace partnerships with provinces and territories and other organizations to maximize impact.
• Through the National Strategy, WAGE received $10 million over 5 years, starting in 2020-21, and $2 million per year ongoing to develop the Continuum of Care – Prevention and Interventions for Vulnerable Populations initiative (Human Trafficking Initiative). The initiative provides funding to eligible organizations to develop, deliver and test (a) innovative prevention programs for at-risk populations, including women and girls, Indigenous women and girls, LGBTQ2 and gender non-binary people, children and youth, and (b) short-term continuum of care interventions to support victims and survivors while they transition out of human trafficking, reintegrate into their communities, and begin their healing and recovery process.
• Following a July 2020 call for proposals, on December 15, 2020, the Government of Canada announced $22.4 million in funding for projects designed to prevent and address human trafficking and support at-risk populations, victims and survivors. Of this investment, WAGE is funding 43 projects, for a total of nearly $14 million and Public Safety is funding the rest.
• Budget 2021 includes $105 million over 5 years for WAGE to enhance its Gender-Based-Violence Program, with funding going to initiatives that engage men and boys, and increase funding for initiatives to stop human trafficking, including support for at-risk populations and victims and survivors. It will also provide support for testing and implementing best practices to address gender-based violence, with a focus on projects that could be scaled at the national level.
 

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