Human trafficking

Human traffickingInfluencing the movements of a person in order to exploit them is often described as a modern-day form of slavery. It involves recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/or exercising control over a person's movements to exploit them, usually through sexual services or forced labour. Human trafficking is an offence under the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). The extent of human trafficking, both in Canada and internationally, is challenging to assess due to the hidden nature of the crime, according to Public Safety Canada. Most at-risk include Indigenous females, new immigrants and migrant workers who do not speak French or English and work in remote areas.

According to Statistics Canada, there were 3,541 police-reported incidents of human trafficking in Canada between 2011 and 2021. Nova Scotia had the highest average annual rate of police-reported human trafficking in that period (2.7 incidents per 100,000 population) though 62 percent of all human trafficking incidents were reported in Ontario. "The relatively high number of incidents in Ontario may be attributed to the concentration of urban areas in the province, as such population centres may form part of human trafficking corridors, used by traffickers to increase profits, avoid detection and isolate victims through psychological control," StatsCan information notes. It adds that nine in 10 victims knew their accused trafficker, while an intimate partner trafficked one-third.

Section 118 of the IRPA makes it a criminal offence to knowingly organize the coming into Canada of one or more persons through abduction, fraud, deception, or the use or threat of force or coercion. People can be charged if they organize, recruit, transport, receive, or harbour people brought into Canada by those means. Those convicted of this offence under the IRPA can be fined up to $1 million, sentenced to life imprisonment, or both.

The court must take into account the following aggravating factorsAny information or evidence that may result in a heavier sentence under s.121 of the IRPA:

• whether bodily harm or death occurred, or the life or safety of any person was endangered;
• whether the offence was committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organization;
• whether the offence was committed for profit, whether or not any profit was actually realized; and
• whether a person was subjected to humiliating or degrading treatment, including with respect to work or health conditions, or sexual exploitation.

The Criminal Code contains six offences that deal specifically with human trafficking. You can also be charged with other related offences, such as kidnapping, forcible confinement or sexual assault, depending on the facts and circumstances of the case.

The six specific offences are:

Trafficking in Persons Section 279.01 makes it a crime to recruit, transport, transfer, receive, hold, conceal or harbour a person, or to exercise control, direction or influence over the movements of a person, for the purpose of exploiting them or facilitating their exploitation by someone else. Exploitation is defined as engaging in conduct that, in all the circumstances, could reasonably be expected to cause the other person to believe that their safety, or the safety of someone known to them, would be threatened if they failed to provide, or offer to provide, labour or services. Exploitation also includes causing a person to have an organ or tissue removed by means of deception or the use or threat of force or any other form of coercion. Conviction carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum penalty of five years where the offence involves kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault or death. There is a maximum penalty of 14 years and a mandatory minimum penalty of four years in all other cases.

Trafficking of a Person Under 18 Section 279.011 criminalizes the same conduct as the above offence but imposes higher mandatory minimum penalties where the victim is under 18. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment, and the mandatory minimum penalty is six years if the offence involves kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault or death. It carries a maximum penalty of 14 years and a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in all other cases.

Receiving a Financial or Material Benefit - Adult Victim Subsection 279.02(1) makes it a crime to receive a financial or other material benefit from human trafficking, knowing that the benefit is obtained from or derived from such conduct. This is a hybrid offenceAn offence the Crown can proceed with summarily or by indictment.. Conviction on indictment carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment; on summary convictionUsed for lesser offences, the maximum is two years less a day.

Receiving a Financial or Other Material Benefit - Child Victim Subsection 279.02(2) criminalizes the same conduct as the above offence but imposes a higher maximum penalty and a mandatory minimum penalty where the victim is under 18 years. There is a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment and a mandatory minimum penalty of two years.

Withholding or Destroying Documents - Adult Victim Subsection 279.03(1) makes it a crime to conceal, remove, withhold or destroy another person's travel document, or any document that establishes or purports to establish that person's identity or immigration status, for the purpose of committing or facilitating human trafficking. This applies whether or not the document is of Canadian origin or is authentic. This is a hybrid offence. A conviction on indictment results in a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment; on summary conviction, the maximum is two years less a day.

Withholding or Destroying a Person's Identity Documents - Child Victim Subsection 279.03(2) criminalizes the same conduct as the above offence but imposes a higher maximum penalty and a mandatory minimum penalty where the victim is under 18 years. There is a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a mandatory minimum penalty of one year.

For the Crown to win a conviction under any of the trafficking offences, it must prove beyond a reasonable doubtThe standard that must be exceeded to find someone guilty that you carried out one of the prohibited acts. Those acts include recruiting, transporting, transferring, receiving, holding, concealing, or harbouring a person, or exercising control, direction, or influence over their movements.

For the main trafficking offences under s.279.01 and s.279.011, the Crown must also prove that you did so with the specific purpose of exploiting that person, or of making it easier for someone else to exploit them. It is not enough to show you were generally aware of what was happening. The Crown must prove that exploitation was your aim.

For the financial-benefit offence under s.279.02, a different mental element applies. The Crown must prove that you received a financial or other material benefit knowing that it came, directly or indirectly, from a trafficking offence. You do not need to have been involved in the trafficking itself, receiving the proceeds while knowing their source is enough.