Peterborough has second highest rate of human trafficking cases in Canada

Peterborough had the second highest rate of human trafficking cases of Canada's census metropolitan areas in 2021 and the third highest rate of cases for the period of 2011 to 2021, according to Statistics Canada.

Peterborough had 14 human trafficking cases alone in 2021 for a rate of 10.9 cases per 100,000 people and had 50 total cases for the 10-year period from 2011 to 2021, a rate of 3.6 cases per 100,000 people.

Only Thunder Bay, with a rate of 28.1 cases per 100,000 people in 2021, had a higher rate among the CMAs, while Thunder Bay at 5.5 and Halifax at 4.5 had higher rates for the 2011-21 period, Statistics Canada found.

Canada had 352 reported human trafficking cases in 2021 for an average of 1.4 incidents per 100,000 people.

“It's Halifax, Thunder Bay and then Peterborough,” Peterborough—Kawartha MP Michelle Ferreri commented recently on social media. “A lot of it does have to do with the corridor. So, we're kind of off the beaten path of (Highway 401), that's a big piece of it. Human trafficking is a really complex and big issue, but it's an extremely transient crime.”

Human trafficking is the fastest growing crime in the world, noted Ferreri, and it's a $150 billion a year industry on a global scale. With this growing concern, Ferreri and the federal government's Status of Women Committee is studying ways to prevent human trafficking.

“It's a really amazing committee, because we're nonpartisan, so it's all the parties working together to try to figure out how to mitigate human trafficking,” she said. “And one of the most powerful things I've heard is that you need to replace the core need that the trafficker provides.”

These can range from survival needs such as food, shelter and clothing to emotional needs including affirmation and love, explained Jocelyn Enright, human trafficking prevention and education coordinator for the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre.

“Human trafficking is a criminal offence, but it's also a human rights issue. So, if we're also not looking at how are we providing folks with these things that they need, then we're really not stopping the issue,” Enright said.

“Because if a trafficker is able to provide people with the things that they need to survive, they might end up in that traumatic situation.”

Young women and girls are the most at risk for trafficking, according to Enright. But there are a variety of other intersectional factors that can make someone vulnerable, she added.

“Particularly Indigenous and two spirit women and girls. Indigenous women and girls make up about four to five per cent of the population, but represent 50 per cent of trafficking victims that we know of, which is a huge disparity,” she said. “Youth who are in foster care or homeless are also at much more of a risk.”

Peterborough's highway access, along with its high Indigenous population and homelessness crisis, could all explain why the city is vulnerable to traffickers, noted Enright. There is labour, sex and organ trafficking along with forced marriage, though the first two are most common, she said.

“I think most of what we're seeing, at least being reported in Peterborough, is sex trafficking,” Enright said.

Many people are manipulated into believing they are not actually victims of trafficking, she said, which makes identifying cases even more difficult.

“A person who is being trafficked by their partner, may continue to refer to them as their partner or their ex-partner, even after they leave,” Enright said.

As a result, these victims often don't come forward to authorities, making human trafficking an under-reported crime, stated Heather Bowden, an acting detective staff sergeant with the Ontario Provincial Police.

“Having a victim that wants to co-operate with police, and come forth with information about her trafficker, can be very difficult when she feels a personal bond,” Bowden said.

The Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre provides educational tools to children, parents and businesses to explain what signs people should look out for. Likewise, the OPP helps teach at-risk businesses — hotels, casinos, tattoo parlours and hair salons — what signs to look for.

“We go into hotels and try to educate them on some of the signs of human trafficking,” Bowden said.

Indicators of sex trafficking include an individual who does not know where they live or where they are going, wearing clothing that's inappropriate for the weather and not having possessions such as identification, she said.

“The individual may also seem afraid, anxious or depressed, and showing signs of abuse, malnourishment, or sleep deprivation,” Bowden said.

Some human trafficking victims may lack knowledge of their immigration status and not have access to their visa or other personal documents, she said.

“They're also often dependent on their employer for very basic needs, such as their housing, medical, food and transportation,” she said.

In December 2021, the OPP established the Provincial Human Trafficking intelligence-led Joint Forces Strategy (IJFS).

“It consists of full-time investigators and analysts that identify, investigate and disrupt multi-jurisdictional human trafficking organizations,” Bowden said. “Since its inception, IJFS has conducted 65 investigations into human trafficking in Ontario, which has led to 72 human trafficking charges and 167 additional charges being laid.”

About two-thirds of police-reported human trafficking cases in Canada occur in Ontario, she said, and no one area is prone to human trafficking, but more instances are seen in urban areas.

“This is due to higher populations, proximity to highways and the ability for the traffickers to earn a profit,” she said. “Increased access to major transportation and transit hubs make mobility very convenient, along with easier access to the larger hotels and other accommodation facilities.”

A typical human trafficker is a man between the ages of 18 and 25, according to Enright.

The Peterborough CMA includes Peterborough city and the surrounding Selwyn, Cavan Monaghan, Douro-Dummer and Otonabee-South Monaghan townships along with Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations.