e-2646 (Social affairs and equality)

The Government of Canada is committed to combating human trafficking and sexual explotation, including through the Department of Justice Victims Fund and the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, led by Public Safety Canada.

The Measures to Address Prostitution Initiative funding included $20 million over five fiscal years (2015-2016 to 2019-2020), divided between Justice Canada and Public Safety. This time-limited funding, which ended on March 31, 2020, went to non-governmental organizations and police services to support victims of sexual exploitation involved in the sex trade. However, Justice Canada continues to make available $1M per year to support projects related to human trafficking under the Victims Fund.

Justice Canada is currently funding seven organizations across Canada to support their work to deliver services responsive to the needs of trafficked persons with a view to promoting their physical, psychological and social recovery.

In June 2020, funding to support the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking was approved by the Treasury Board, with investments going to Public Safety Canada and Women and Gender Equality to support organizations providing services and assistance to victims of human trafficking. These departments each launched a call for proposals, which are now closed. The review process is underway.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is one of the most pervasive, deadly and deeply-rooted human rights violations of our time. The Government of Canada is committed to commitment to preventing and addressing all forms of GBV, including human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation. This is why, in September 2019, the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking (National Strategy) was launched, led by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

Through the National Strategy, the Department for Women and Gender Equality received funding to support organizations in developing and implementing promising prevention and intervention practices that will advance knowledge and enhance supports for at-risk populations and survivors of human trafficking, beginning in 2020-21.  A Call for Proposals was launched on July 29, 2020 and closed on September 11, 2020. The Department is currently reviewing the submissions. 

In addition, in 2017, the Government of Canada launched It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence (GBV Strategy). Since the launch of the GBV Strategy, over $200 million has been invested in initiatives across the GBV Strategy’s three pillars: 1) Preventing Gender-Based Violence, 2) Supporting Survivors and their Families, and 3) Promoting Responsive Legal and Justice Systems. Progress and achievements to date can be found in the Annual Reports on the Gender-Based Violence Knowledge Centre’s online platform: https://cfc-swc.gc.ca/violence/knowledge-connaissance/index-en.html.

Federal leadership on GBV has been welcomed by partners and stakeholders and has proven to be a strong first step to align federal partners, build collaborative structures, continue engaging with stakeholders, and demonstrate progress.  Nevertheless, we have also heard the repeated calls for a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence (GBV NAP) that brings federal, provincial and territorial efforts under one cohesive framework.

As the 150^th Speech from the Throne underscored, the Government of Canada will continue to advance the GBV NAP, under the leadership of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality, and with support from the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. Through ongoing engagements,  a clear set of priorities are being developed for the GBV NAP, which will seek to address the root causes and systemic issues that perpetrate violence, as well as the factors that serve as barriers to accessing supports, services, and protections.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for a National Action Plan and amplified its urgency.  In recognition of the gendered impacts of the pandemic, coupled with the exacerbation of existing gaps in some systems and sectors and the increasing rates of GBV, otherwise known as the shadow pandemic, Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan implemented a number of measures to support people and businesses, including the commitment of $100 million to women’s shelters, sexual assault centres, and other organizations that provide important services to those experiencing GBV.  This funding will help keep their doors open, mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in their facilities, adapt their service delivery to virtual and remote models, and ensure services remained available to survivors and their families.

This challenging time presents an opportunity to further advance progress towards achieving gender equality and eliminating GBV in Canada. Through an evidence-based, survivor-centric, and trauma-informed approach, and in collaboration with the provinces and territories, Indigenous partners, survivors and experts, the GBV NAP will bring us closer to our vision of a Canada free from GBV.

The Government of Canada takes the issue of human trafficking seriously and is committed to the protection of children, women, girls, and other vulnerable members of society from all forms of exploitation and abuse, including sexual and labour trafficking.

The Measures to Address Prostitution Initiative funding (MAPI) was created by Justice Canada, in collaboration with Public Safety Canada, in order to support grassroots organizations to deliver services to individuals seeking to exit prostitution. The initiative, supported by an investment of $20 million over five years beginning in 2015-2016, was announced in conjunction with the enactment of former Bill C-36 Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act in 2014. Through the MAPI, Public Safety Canada received $9.4 million over five years, to be managed under the National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS).

Building on the MAPI’s $9.4 million over 5 years, the NCPS committed an additional $21 million over 5 years, for a total investment of $30 million over 5 years, to support 14 projects to collect information and share knowledge on what works best to support individuals to exit prostitution. The start dates for the MAPI-funded projects have varied, with some starting as late as 2017-2018. Public Safety Canada has reallocated internal resources in order to support each project for a full five years, which means some will continue to receive funding through the NCPS until 2022-2023, well beyond the sunsetting of the MAPI funding.

Public Safety Canada is also supporting additional measures to combat human trafficking. Through Budget 2018, up to $14.51 million over five years and $2.89 million per year ongoing was allocated for the establishment and implementation of the new Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline (https://www.canadianhumantraffickinghotline.ca/) for victims and survivors in need of services and support. The hotline was launched in May 2019 and is a national, multilingual, 24/7 service operated by the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking, a national charitable organization.

In addition, the Government of Canada launched the whole-of-government, five-year National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking (National Strategy) in September 2019. This diverges from the 2012 Action Plan launched by the previous Conservative government which was derided by some advocates who declared that the “crime-fighting focus of the plan has unfortunately detracted from ... victim services.” When it was announced it came with a budget of $25 million of which only $500,000 was to be used for supporting survivors.

Under our plan, we are investing $57.22 million over five years and $2.89 million ongoing in addition to the Hotline. The National Strategy includes measures aligned with the internationally recognized pillars of prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnership. It also introduces a new focus area, “empowerment”, to enhance supports and services to victims and survivors of human trafficking, helping them to regain control and independence.

As part of the empowerment pillar, in June 2020, Public Safety Canada issued a targeted call for proposals for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have already demonstrated leadership in providing long-term, wrap-around services and supports to victims and survivors of human trafficking. In addition, in late July 2020, Public Safety Canada and Women and Gender Equality Canada launched open calls for proposals for a total value of $19 million over four years for NGOs across Canada that demonstrate promising practices or projects related to human trafficking. These calls for proposals closed September 11, 2020 and the responses are being evaluated against the assessment criteria, the program’s terms and conditions, and value for money.