Alberta to Spend Additional $5.5M to Combat Human Trafficking

Legislative Assembly of Alberta building in a file photo. WinterforceMediaWinterE229

The Alberta government has announced a $5.5 million grant program to combat human trafficking, focusing on prevention efforts and support for victims and survivors.

The grant will be available to community organizations that help raise awareness of human trafficking, as well as those that provide emergency aid to victims and support to survivors, the province said in a Dec. 13 press release. The province wants the funding to help reduce the risk of victimization and re-exploitation, improve the capacity of organizations to respond to trafficking, and increase specialized support to those affected.

This is the province’s second funding announcement this year in its fight against human trafficking. In February, it allocated $3.5 million to 21 anti-trafficking organizations.

“Human trafficking is a serious and often hidden crime that devastates lives and communities,” said Deputy Minister and Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis. “We are taking significant steps to disrupt human trafficking and ensure victims and survivors have access to the support they need.”

Since 2020, 576 charges have been laid and 169 people arrested for human trafficking offences, according to the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams.

Grant applicants must be registered non-profit or charitable organizations, community-based organizations, or indigenous communities, officials said, and survivor-led and indigenous-led initiatives will be prioritized.

Grant applications will close on Jan. 20.

The provincial government designed the grant program in consultation with survivors and the Alberta Centre to End Human Trafficking.

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking, often described as modern-day slavery, involves recruiting, holding, transporting, or controlling a person to benefit from them, typically through sexual exploitation or forced labour.

The incidence of the crime is hard to determine, primarily because of its hidden nature and victims’ failure to report it, usually due to factors such as fear of possible consequences, language barriers, or because they are unaware of their rights.

Sex trafficking alone is a global industry valued at $150 billion per year, with traffickers making $280,800 per victim annually, according to the Alberta Centre to End Human Trafficking. Victims in Canada can be as young as 13 year old.

Last year, Canada recorded 570 incidents of human trafficking reported to police, down from nearly 600 in 2022. Overall, however, there has been a general increase in the number of cases in the past decade, according to Statistics Canada.

Among the cases reported since 2013, nearly 95 percent involved women and girls, and about a quarter involved children and youth under 18. Only 7 percent of human trafficking victims were men or boys.

A large majority of victims, 91 percent of those affected since 2013, reported knowing their accused trafficker, while the remaining 9 percent were trafficked by a stranger, according to StatCan. A common tactic traffickers use is drawing the victim into a romantic relationship with the end goal of exploitation, the agency said.

Paul Brandt, an Alberta-born country music artist and anti-trafficking advocate who co-chairs the Alberta Centre to End Trafficking in Persons, said the new grant program will help ensure victims have access to essential resources and services.

“Human trafficking has devastating, lifelong impacts,” Brandt said in the news release. “It is a violation of human rights and a vile attack on human dignity.”