CCR Anti-Trafficking Advocacy

The CCR calls on the federal government to adopt a holistic approach to human trafficking that favours prevention, social protections, accountability, and labour mobility.

Now more than ever is the time to focus attention on our demands, in light of the new National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking (2019-2024).

Root Causes:

Recognize and address systemic inequalities that are the causes and consequences of trafficking.

We believe Canada needs to be accountable for its contribution to global displacement and to how it shapes migration policies at home. Temporary migration policies and programs, and punitive trafficking legislation undermine human rights. So do policies that perpetuate inequalities for women, girls, indigenous peoples. LGBTQ2SI and other vulnerable populations.

Protect Rights

Protect the rights of trafficked persons and those at risk.

This means fixing laws and policies that create barriers and providing better protection of rights.

In practice, the government and the courts remain reluctant to recognize coercion and deception as it applies to labour trafficking. We believe laws and accessible policies should be in place to alleviate hardship, promote family reunification, and encourage labour mobility of trafficked persons through tools such as the Temporary Residence Permit, Open Work Permit and other forms of temporary protection that provide access to status and services and open a road away from precariousness and towards permanent protection.

Permanent Status

Provide permanent protection of trafficked persons.

This means implementing legislative changes to ensure that there is a permanent and fundamental change in policy to protect trafficked persons.

There is currently nothing in the law to protect the human rights specifically of trafficked persons. Adding an immigration class to protect trafficked persons under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act would provide a clear pathway to permanent status for trafficked persons, and reinforce a human rights-based approach to protection.

Access to Justice

Ensure effective access to justice.

This means stronger human rights-based recourses, and implementing law reform that is non-punitive and recognizes trafficking in all its forms.

There are many access to justice barriers for trafficked persons, especially for those with precarious or undocumented status. Legal practitioners and service providers report this is the case whether seeking access to legal services or pathways to temporary or permanent protection. The system is not rights-based, but framed in a framework of criminalization and rescue that can put trafficked persons at risk of detention and deportation, adding insult to injury. We want to remove these barriers to protection and strengthen remedies focusing on human rights and labour rights.

Access to Services

Ensure universal access to public services for trafficked persons and those at risk.

Trafficked persons with precarious or undocumented status are often scrambling to access services like healthcare, education, childcare services, and other psychosocial services. We want to ensure a comprehensive and cohesive response to human trafficking across all provinces, including access to services. This response, coordinated and implemented federally and provincially, should take into account best practices identified by NGOs.

Read the complete CCR Anti-Trafficking Advocacy Strategy