Ontario has the second highest rates of human trafficking in Canada: StatsCan

Data showing Ontario has the second highest rates of reported human trafficking cases in all of Canada comes as no surprise to Caroline Pugh-Roberts.

The London, Ont., resident who is a trafficking survivor herself, is now working to help other survivors as an peer outreach coordinator at the Salvation Army. She says it's a problem that's only amplified during the pandemic and is showing up in many different forms. 

"Before COVID, it was primarily what we called a 'lover-boy or Romeo scenario' involving boyfriends who would be pimps. But now I'm starting to see more organized crime gangs, and this is even more frightening," she said. 

"We've also seen familial trafficking really explode, where relatives are selling children. It's a huge betrayal when it's a loved one, but organized crime makes it harder to get away from," she said. "We've got a lot of gangs in London which are now stretching out into human trafficking."

A Statistics Canada report published earlier this month found that between 2012 and 2022, Nova Scotia had the highest rate of police-reported human trafficking, followed by Ontario, which accounted for 67 per cent of incidents despite representing more than one third of the Canadian population last year.

Majority of the victims from the 4,000 reported incidents throughout the decade were women and girls, the Statistics Canada report said, adding that around 91 per cent knew their trafficker, and 34 per cent were trafficked by an intimate partner.

"A high concentration of urban areas in Ontario may contribute to the higher rates of human trafficking in the province," said data from 2021, released by the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking (CCTEHT).

401 corridor a hotspot to move trafficking victims

Ontario is made up of many population centres that traffickers may use to avoid detection, including London, which had 130 reported incidents in 10 years, according to Statistics Canada.

Although the issue isn't just limited to big cities, London's proximity to the 401 corridor — a known hotspot for sex traffickers — could serve as a major connecting point, said James McLean, director of research and policy at CCTEHT.

"We found in Ontario, traffickers are using Highway 401 as a major corridor to transport victims to different sex markets including Windsor, London, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal," he said. 

"Because of its location between Windsor and Toronto, London has emerged as one area where we're seeing higher rates of sex trafficking."

However, Pugh-Roberts believes the blame should be on people purchasing sex, she said. 

"The 401 corridor enables it, but this is primarily happening many people are buying sex," she said. "It's horrific what's happening here and it's only getting worse."

Both Pugh-Roberts and McLean are disappointed at the low 11 per cent conviction rate for traffickers. However, there have been improvements in federal and provincial policies around developing strategies to curb human trafficking, said McLean. 

"We're seeing more investments in education and awareness campaigns so that Canadians can better understand what human trafficking is and what supports are available — and we're also seeing more human trafficking police units popping up, which is all great news," he said.

Part of the London Police Service's budget request for $171 million over the next four years aims to expand its human trafficking unit. 

If you are a victim or survivor of forced prostitution or forced labour, or believe someone else might be, you can call The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-833-900-1010, which is available 24/7 from coast-to-coast in more than 200 languages.