Police-reported human trafficking in Canada, 2009 to 2018

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Release date: June 23, 2020
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Infographic: Police-reported human trafficking in Canada, 2009 to 2018
Description: Police-reported human trafficking in Canada, 2009 to 2018

Police-reported human trafficking in Canada, 2009 to 2018

Human trafficking involves recruiting, transporting, transferring, holding, concealing or exercising control over a person for the purposes of exploitation.

Since 2009:

  • Number of police-reported incidents of human trafficking: 1,708
  • Percentage of incidents involving international trafficking: 32%
  • Percentage of police-reported incidents in major cities: 90%

Human traffi­cking often involves victims and witnesses in vulnerable situations who are fearful or distrustful of authorities or who are facing threats from the traffickers. This means that the true scope of human trafficking in Canada is underestimated.

Almost all human trafficking victims are women and girls.

Gender of victim

  • 97% women
  • 3% men

Age of victim

  • 28% under 18
  • 45% 18 to 24
  • 26% 25 and older

Gender of accused person

  • 19% women
  • 81% men

92% of human trafficking victims knew their trafficker.


Table 1
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 1. The information is grouped by Accused-victim relationship (appearing as row headers), Percent (appearing as column headers).
Accused-victim relationship Percent
Criminal, business, or other relationship 32
Friend or acquaintance 31
Spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend or intimate partner 29
Stranger 8

44% of human trafficking incidents involved other offences. Of these:

  • 63% involved offences related to the sex trade
  • 39% involved physical assault
  • 21% involved sexual assault or other sexual offences

Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

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© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2020

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