The FCJ Refugee Centre participated in the event Exploring the Intersections of Digital Technology, Gender-Based Violence and Human Trafficking, organized by OCASI as a part of the Immigrant and Refugee Communities: Neighbours, Friends and Families (IRCNFF) Project, and held on March 6.

Jovana Blagovcanin, FCJ Refugee Centre’s Anti-Human Trafficking Manager; and Chiara Rossi, FCJ Refugee Centre’s Anti-Human Trafficking – Women Coordinator, together with Krystal Sneider, Executive Disruptor at Collaborative Community Solutions/WomenatheCentreE, were the speakers on a panel about Gender-Based Violence and Human Trafficking.

In the panel, they explored the impact of digital technology and its challenges on human trafficking in local and global contexts, examining the intertwined issues of gender-based viiolence and human trafficking, with a particular focus on the experiences of international students.

They highlighted ways that migrants are recruited online, unique challenges they face seeking support, and offered recommendations on how to support them and bridge the gap in services.

FCJ Refugee Centre had a relevant presence in the Support, Empower, Access (SEA) Summit for the National Human Trafficking Awareness Day (February 22nd), hosted by the Association for New Canadians (ANC) in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Jovana Blagovcanin, FCJ Refugee Centre’s Anti-Human Trafficking Manager, together with Varka Kalaydzhieva, Program Director at Collaborative Network to End Exploitation, presented on exploitation of migrant workers through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). They opened and closed their presentation with two poems from migrant worker and advocate Gabriel Allahdua.

Jovana and Varka facilitated the Migrant Worker Exercise with participants across different sectors, including law enforcement, service providers and mental health professionals, to provide an overview of a migrant worker’s experience in Canada through a role-playing activity.

Participants played the roles of migrant workers, where they were given identifications and short biographies of workers, and went through the process of recruitment, border crossing, and working and living on a farm while highlighting the systemic issues that workers face including abuse, exploitation and limited resources for support.

Participants heard first hand testimonies from migrant workers about the various abuses they faced in the TFWP. Then, Jovana and Varka led a discussion about the options each participant/worker had after experiencing abuse and exploitation, the benefits and shortcomings of each of these options, and the possible final outcomes to highlight how these options are often dead ends.

It was a successful event that allowed FCJ and the Collaborative Network to End Exploitation to highlight that Canada has systems in place that facilitate exploitation but are not widely considered human trafficking. We were able to advocate for the end to closed work permits and Status for All, while considering how we can collaborate to work within a Do No Harm principle and anti-oppressive approach.

February 22nd is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Canada, since it was proclaimed by the federal government, in 2020.

The crime of Trafficking in Persons was added to the Canadian Criminal Code in 2005, less than 20 years ago. The law criminalizes forced organ removal, forced marriage, indentured servitude, labour exploitation, and sexual exploitation. These crimes are commonly known as human trafficking.

Trafficking exploitation exist in many forms and usually entails victims being caused to provide sexual services or labour through force, coercion, deception and/or abuse of trust, power or authority.

Human trafficking therefore results in substantial physical, psychological, and emotional trauma to the victims.

Human trafficking is still happening in Canada, and continues to take advantage of systemic issues such as poverty, inequity, and legislation focused on prosecuting criminals, as opposed to empowering communities and supporting survivors.

On this Human Trafficking Awareness Day we are focusing on labour trafficking, an especially underreported and unnoticed crime.

How do labour exploitation and labour trafficking look like?

In a society where hundreds silently endure the chains of labour exploitation and trafficking, it’s crucial to shed light on their harsh realities. See the images in the following gallery to know the common indicators faced by vulnerable workers, as we strive to recognize, understand, and break the chains binding them.

Click on the images to enlarge them and access the gallery

How do labour trafficking exploitative practices look like?

Knowing about the harsh truths of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, the next sequence shows exploitative practices affecting countless workers. From physical and financial abuse to psychological and other forms of exploitation, there is an urgent need for justice and policy changes. See the images in the following gallery to know the depths of these issues.

Click on the images to enlarge them and access the gallery

What are the stages of labour trafficking?

Unveiling the dark stages of labour trafficking: recruitment, control, and forced labour. See the images in the following gallery to understand the journey from promising dreams to the tight grip of exploitation and trafficking. At the recruitment stage, individuals are often attracted to false promises of better opportunities and a brighter future for themselves and their families. Dishonest practices, such as altered job details and misleading predetermined agreements, open the door to exploitation. Also, many end up trapped in debt, forced to pay high fees for getting a job and traveling, making them stuck in a cycle of control and dependency that does not seem to have the option to leave. Action is urgently needed, let’s join to break the cycle, offer support, empower survivors, and work towards a society free from forced labour.

Click on the images to enlarge them and access the gallery

You can help fight human trafficking by staying informed and informing others about the extent of the problem. Get the facts and talk about it:

• Stay Awake Campaign: A dedicated initiative spotlighting human trafficking among precarious migrant youth. Through this campaign, we adopt an intersectional lens, addressing the intertwined vulnerabilities and oppressions faced by migrant youth. See the whole campaign here.
• A Call For Action to End Human Trafficking – How Collaboration Can Lead to Solutions: As a part of the annual Victims and Survivors of Crime Week, the Toronto Counter Human Trafficking Network hosted a hybrid forum to raise awareness and address the root causes of the ever growing labour trafficking issue in Canada. You can watch it here.
• The reality of labour exploitation and uprooted people: How does human trafficking impact precarious status migrants and where does it take place? What support is available for migrants who have been trafficked? Executive Director of FCJ Refugee Centre, Loly Rico; and Anti-Human Trafficking Manager of FCJ, Jovana Blagovcanin, share their insights, experience and knowledge about this topic on an episode of Freedom Fighters: Code Gray, at Rogers TV. Watch it here.
• FCJ representatives speak about human trafficking before the House of Commons: Two FCJ Refugee Centre representatives, Jovana Blagovcanin, Anti-Human Trafficking Manager, and Chiara Rossi, Anti-Human Trafficking – Women Coordinator, participated as witnesess in a House of Commons’ meeting on Human Trafficking of Women, Girls and Gender Diverse People, in the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. Watch it here.
• Human Trafficking news and events on the FCJ Refugee Centre website.

If you are concerned that you or someone you know may be a victim of forced labour or sex please contact the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-833-900-1010.

The Youth Alliance Against Human Trafficking would like to introduce a new edition of the #StayAwakeCampaign.

The #StayAwakeCampaign is a dedicated initiative spotlighting human trafficking among precarious migrant youth. Through this campaign, we adopt an intersectional lens, addressing the intertwined vulnerabilities and oppressions faced by migrant youth.

We’ll focus on:

• Understanding human trafficking: Demystifying myths and presenting the stark realities.
• The Canadian context: Highlighting local statistics and the prevalence of trafficking in Canada.
• Diverse exploitation forms: Discussing both sex trafficking and labor exploitation, revealing the multifaceted nature of this crime.
• The reality of international students life in Canada
• Creativity and healing

Join us in this pivotal movement. Together, we can raise awareness, educate, and combat Human Trafficking.

• Daily updates will be posted in the Stay Awake Campaign 2023 main page.
• You can also follow the campaign on the FCJ Youth Network Instagram acount.

Check here to see the content of the 2022 campaign »

If you are concerned that you or someone you know may be a victim of forced labour or sex please contact the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-833-900-1010.

As a part of the annual Victims and Survivors of Crime Week, the Toronto Counter Human Trafficking Network hosted on May 17th a hybrid forum to raise awareness and address the root causes of the ever growing labour trafficking issue in Canada.

The forum identified the issue at hand, by discussing the realities of labour trafficking in Canada while examining the systems in place that facilitate the trafficking of foreign nationals for the purpose of forced labour. Speakers also addressed the gaps in service in supporting victims and survivors in order to foster solutions to strengthen collaboration across sectors.

The forum featured a panel discussion with experts from victim supporting organizations, advocates and researchers, and those with lived experience of labour trafficking in Canada. Topics covered incl,uded raising awareness about current human trafficking trends involving large groups of foreign nationals being recruited to work in Canada, addressing the use of housing exploitation as a means of control, identifying the root causes of emerging trends through policy examination, and developing recommendations to foster collaboration towards solutions.

We believe that through collaboration between service providers, government, law enforcement, and those directly impacted by labour trafficking, we can better respond to labour trafficking and ideally prevent it.

Our hybrid forum "A Call For Action To End Labour Trafficking" just started! The goal is to raise awareness and address the root causes of the ever growing labour trafficking issue in Canada. #labourtrafficking pic.twitter.com/I3cMRAgBNg

— FCJ Refugee Centre (@RefugeeCentre) May 17, 2023

Speakers:

Selene Mateos Solis (Survivor of Labour Trafficking): Selene Mateos Solis (she/they) is a survivor of human labour trafficking in Ontario. They hold a bachelor in environmental Technology from UT Tabasco in Mexico. They have spoken at events held by FCJ Refugee Centre, the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture and the Toronto United Mennonite Church. Their experience has sparked a drive to get to the community. They currently volunteer for the newcomers program “Among Friends” at the 519 in Toronto. Selene believes that education, awareness and advocacy regarding this topic is crucial. They are particularly focused on raising awareness of the personal impact the experience of being trafficked for labour can have on an individual.

Connie Stevens: Connie Stevens is a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner who has worked in Sexual Health for over 35 years. Connie received her PhD from the University of Liverpool and teaches at a GTA college. Based on her experience in both areas, Connie researched safer acclimatisation for Female Punjabi International students. Researching the students’ experience has exposed sex trafficking and labour trafficking. The students fear community and immigration retaliation if they share their stories. Connie wants to acknowledge the students’ contributions and permission received to act as an ally and advocate on their behalf. Connie will share her research findings and offer some of the students’ suggested resolutions.

Nadia Nadeem (Staff Immigration Lawyer – Neighbourhood Legal Services): Nadia is a Staff Lawyer (Immigration) at Neighbourhood Legal Services. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour from McMaster University. Prior to attending law school, Nadia worked in a Mental Health & Addiction Program at a major city hospital where she supported individuals as well as their families. Nadia is deeply committed to social justice and advocacy, particularly on behalf of vulnerable and marginalized groups. While in law school, Nadia gained clinical experience through working at community legal clinics in both Hamilton and Windsor. She is passionate about community lawyering in the immigration & refugee law context, and is currently Co-Chair of the Inter Clinic Immigration Working Group (ICIWG)

Ezat Mossallanejad (Policy Analyst at Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture): Ezat holds a Ph.D. degree from Poona University, India, and has worked as Coordinator of the Jesuit Refugee Service-Canada. Ezat has served as a founding member of the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ), the Culturelink’s Chair of the Board and a director on the Board of the Inter-Church Committee for Refugee (ICCR). At present, Ezat works as a full-time Settlement Counsellor and Policy Analyst with the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture (CCVT). Ezat has also worked on the Editorial Board of the Refugee Update. Ezat has published 6 books and more than 150 articles in Farsi as well as three books and around 45 articles in English. He has worked with several UN bodies in connection with refugee protection and eradication of torture. In his mission to protect refugees and survivors of torture, he has travelled to different countries including USA, Mexico, Rwanda, Switzerland, Austria, Australia, Nigeria, Uganda, Thailand, India and Cyprus. His book Torture in the Age of Fear was published in September 2005. In 2012, he published Religions and the Cruel Return of Gods. In 2014, he published a book entitled Crimes and Punishment in Islam. His book The Silence of Fairy was published in 2018. He is also the founder of Zagros Editions.

James McLean (Director of Research and Policy – Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking): James McLean currently serves as the Director of Research and Policy at the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking. In this role, he is initiating a series of original research projects, including one that is looking at how prosecutors and law enforcement can make better use of digital evidence to reduce reliance on victim testimony. Prior to joining the Centre, James worked with a non-profit organization in Ottawa, the City of Toronto, and as a Senior Advisor to Ontario’s Minister of Education. He also serves as Deputy Mayor of his local municipality.

Kelly Howe (Senior Manager – Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills): Kelly is the Senior Manager of the Divisional Intelligence Unit (DIU). The DIU is a dedicated team in the ministry that was created to support efforts against provincial labour trafficking. This team focuses on detecting and investigating exploitative labour practices and labour trafficking activity. The DIU works closely with legal clinics, advocacy groups, industry associations, consulates, agencies that support workers and newcomers, police, other law enforcement agencies and the broader regulatory community on matters related to labour exploitation and trafficking.

Jovana Blagovcanin (Anti-Human Trafficking Manager- FCJ Refugee Centre): Jovana is the Anti-Human Trafficking Manager at FCJ Refugee Centre and the Coordinator of the Toronto Counter Human Trafficking Network. Through the Anti-Human Trafficking and Migrant Mobile Worker Program, Jovana supports precarious status migrants who have experienced abuse in the workplace, or exploitation in the form of labour or sex trafficking. Jovana continues to participate in advocacy efforts through the Toronto Counter Human Trafficking Network, Canadian Council for Refugees and other various committees involved in migrant worker rights campaigns.

In 2020, the federal government proclaimed February 22nd as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Canada.

The crime of Trafficking in Persons was added to the Canadian Criminal Code in 2005, less than 20 years ago. The law criminalizes forced organ removal, forced marriage, indentured servitude, labour exploitation, and sexual exploitation. These crimes are commonly known as human trafficking.

Trafficking exploitation exist in many forms and usually entails victims being caused to provide sexual services or labour through force, coercion, deception and/or abuse of trust, power or authority. Human trafficking therefore results in substantial physical, psychological, and emotional trauma to the victims.

Human trafficking is still happening in Canada, and continues to take advantage of systemic issues such as poverty, inequity, and legislation focused on prosecuting criminals, as opposed to empowering communities and supporting survivors.

Underreported and unnoticed

Due to the reluctance of victims and witnesses to come forward and the difficulty in identifying victims, it is still difficult to assess the extent of human trafficking in Canada, but, according to the RCMP, between 2005 and December 2018, human trafficking specific charges were laid in 531 cases, with 327 victims involved. Of these cases 510 were domestic (primarily sexual exploitation), and 21 were international (primarily forced labour).

Human Trafficking is one of the greatest injustices we have here in Ontario.

I was honoured to meet with Jovana & Loly from @RefugeeCentre to learn about their work in supporting victims of Human Trafficking.#EndHumanTrafficking pic.twitter.com/sappd0CKJa

— Monte McNaughton (@MonteMcNaughton) February 22, 2023

Labour trafficking is an especially underreported and unnoticed crime. Victims of labour trafficking are often with precarious status, afraid to come forward and extremely vulnerable to exploitation. Often, they are recruited before coming to Canada in their country of origin with a promise of legal documents and a new future in Canada. They work in inhumane conditions, underpaid or not paid at all and feel that they have no other options to leave. They work in all sectors. They work in farms, factories, restaurants, hotels, cleaning industries and may be your neighbour, your co-worker, or your contracted employee.

Labour exploitation happens here in Canada, and it happens here in Ontario, and the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted even more the social inequalities that allow human trafficking to continue.

You can help fight human trafficking by staying informed and informing others about the extent of the problem. Get the facts and talk about it:

• Stay Awake Campaign: Here you can find content that raises awareness around the issue of human trafficking amongst precarious migrant youth, including information about labour trafficking, sex trafficking, the problem of isolation and how to become better allies for precarious migrant youth, service providers, etc.
• It Happens Here: Labour Exploitation Among Migrant Workers During the Pandemic: A new research by FCJ Refugee Centre and the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking shows that employer discrimination, unsafe working conditions and gaps in government policy put migrant workers at risk of being exploited once they arrive in Canada.
• Human Trafficking news and events on the FCJ Refugee Centre website.

If you are concerned that you or someone you know may be a victim of forced labour or sex please contact the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-833-900-1010.

Click to download the full report

New research shows that employer discrimination, unsafe working conditions and gaps in government policy put migrant workers at risk of being exploited once they arrive in Canada.

FCJ Refugee Centre and the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking’s newly released report, It Happens Here: Labour Exploitation Among Migrant Workers During the Pandemic, reveals that migrant labourers’ precarious immigration status makes them vulnerable to exploitation by recruiters and employers.

The report summarizes findings from a series of focus group discussions that convened 77 migrant workers in Ontario in early 2022, with the support of Legal Assistance of Windsor (LAW). It highlights that many migrant workers are not aware that they have labour rights while working in Canada.

Some participants shared that they had been exploited in their home country and saw Canada as an opportunity to escape this form of abuse. As a result, many were surprised to learn this danger exists here. “I am still in shock because in Mexico I have heard about human trafficking, but I never thought I would be in this situation [in Canada]. I would always think: how could people fall into these situations? After this happened to me, I saw that it can happen to anyone,” said a focus group participant.

The report’s other findings include:

• Migrant workers, especially those working in the agricultural and low wage sectors, are frustrated by policies that make it difficult to acquire permanent residency status and relocate their families to Canada.
• Migrant workers’ primary concern is family separation, followed by low wages and employer discrimination.
• Migrant workers’ safety was jeopardized due to limited healthcare access and COVID-19 testing, as well as by their inability to socially distance.

The report recommends that the federal and provincial governments implement additional safeguards to protect migrant workers from being exploited. More specifically, it calls on governments to:

• establish Open Work Permits for all migrant workers;
• ensure that migrant workers have greater access to information on their labour rights before, during, and after their arrival in Canada;
• increase investments in on-site social services for migrants, including language training, legal aid, healthcare, and information on labour rights, and;
• accelerate the federal government’s new family reunification policy for low wage and agricultural workers, and extend this policy to workers with young families.

“Migrant workers are essential to the Canadian economy and deserve justice, fairness, and appropriate attention from all levels of the government and employers. Many of them sacrifice time with their families to pursue work in Canada. Protecting them from being exploited in our communities should be a top priority for all of us,” said Julia Drydyk, Executive Director, The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking. “Federal, provincial and municipal governments should increase funding to community organizations to provide more on-site services for low-wage migrant workers.”

In 2022, the Government of Canada announced a necessary policy change that will allow spouses and working-age children of migrant workers to relocate to Canada. Although this new policy will help address some concerns, additional steps are needed to reduce the exploitation of migrant workers.

“Migrant workers help Canada to fill critical labour shortages. With growing demand for new migrant labours, our concern about their safety and well-being is increasing. Unfortunately, existing policies can’t protect landed migrant workers who are already in a precarious situation, and will put new labours at higher risk of being victim of forced labour, discrimination and unsafe working conditions. This shocking reality should change before we welcome new migrant workers,” said Loly Rico, Executive Director, FCJ Refugee Centre.

The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking operates the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline (1-833-900-1010), a confidential, multilingual service, operating 24/7 to connect victims and survivors of human trafficking, including labour exploitation with over 900 social and legal services nation-wide. 

For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Aziz Froutan
Communications Manager
The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking
afroutan@ccteht.ca
647-714-2527

Carolina Teves
Associate Director, Communication and Access to Education
FCJ Refugee Centre
cteves@fcjrefugeecentre.org

About the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking:

The Centre is a national charity dedicated to ending all types of human trafficking in Canada. We work with like-minded stakeholders and organizations, including non-profits, corporations, governments and survivors/victims of human trafficking, to advance best practices, eliminate duplicate efforts across Canada, and enable cross-sectoral coordination by providing access to networks and specialized skills. We operate the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-833-900-1010, a 24/7, multilingual access to a safe and confidential space to ask for help and connect to services.

About FCJ Refugee Centre:

FCJ Refugee Centre serves refugees and others at risk due to their immigration status, overcome the challenges of rebuilding their lives in Canadian society. With an open-door approach, we offer an integrated model of refugee protection, education, migrant worker and anti-human trafficking support, and settlement services, including shelter for women and their children. We ensure victims/survivors of human trafficking have access to orientation, legal assistance and referrals, information about their immigration options, appropriate housing, employment support, counseling and other forms of psycho-social support.