Canada Day is a time to celebrate the country we call home: our communities, our freedoms, and the values that bring us together. It is also an opportunity to think about the future.
As parents, grandparents, caregivers, educators, coaches, and neighbours, we all want the same thing: for children to grow up safe, valued, and free to reach their full potential. So this Canada Day, let’s ask ourselves an important question:
What kind of Canada are we building for the next generation?
Creating a Canada where every child is protected from sexual exploitation doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when families, communities, schools, organizations, and governments work together to prevent harm before it begins.
Across Canada, sexual exploitation and human trafficking continue to affect thousands of people every year. These crimes don’t just happen in big cities or far away – they happen in communities across the country, often hidden in plain sight.
The encouraging news is that prevention is possible. By understanding how exploitation happens, recognizing the warning signs of grooming, and having honest conversations with our children, we can help build a Canada where every child is safe, valued, and protected.
The Reality of Sexual Exploitation in Canada
Human trafficking is one of the fastest-growing crimes in Canada, and the vast majority of police-reported cases involve sexual exploitation.
According to Public Safety Canada:
- More than 5,000 police-reported incidents of human trafficking were recorded between 2014 and 2024.
- Approximately 93% of identified victims were women and girls.
- 41% of victims were between 18 and 24 years old, while 22% were under the age of 18.
- Most trafficking in Canada is domestic, meaning victims are exploited within our own communities rather than being taken across international borders.
These numbers only tell part of the story. Many cases are never reported because victims are afraid, ashamed, manipulated, or don’t recognize that they are being exploited.
The good news is that sexual exploitation is preventable, and prevention starts with awareness.
Grooming: It Doesn’t Usually Start with Force
When many people think about human trafficking, they picture someone being kidnapped by a stranger. In reality, exploitation often begins with grooming.
Grooming is a process where someone slowly builds trust with a child or young person in order to manipulate or exploit them later. It can happen over weeks or even months, making it difficult to recognize until the relationship has already become unhealthy.
A person who is grooming a child or teenager may:
- Give lots of attention, compliments, or affection (“love bombing”)
- Buy gifts or offer money, rides, or other help
- Encourage the young person to keep unsafe secrets
- Try to separate them from family or friends
- Pretend to be the only person who truly understands them
- Gradually push personal or sexual boundaries
- Use guilt, threats, or manipulation to stay in control
- Build relationships through social media, gaming platforms, or messaging apps
The person doing the grooming isn’t always a stranger. They may be someone the young person already knows or trusts. Knowing these warning signs doesn’t mean becoming fearful, it means being prepared. Awareness gives parents and caregivers the opportunity to step in early and have conversations that can protect their children.
What Parents Can Do
No parent can protect their child from every risk, but there are simple things that can make a big difference:
- Start conversations early about healthy friendships, respect, consent, and personal boundaries. Let your child know they can always come to you, even if they’re worried they’ve made a mistake.
- Stay interested in their online world. Ask what games they play, what apps they use, and who they spend time talking to online. These conversations shouldn’t feel like interrogations, they should become a normal part of family life.
- Pay attention if your child suddenly becomes secretive, receives expensive gifts they can’t explain, spends a lot of time communicating with someone new, or withdraws from family and friends. While these changes don’t always mean exploitation is happening, they are opportunities to check in with curiosity and care.
Most importantly, remind your child that healthy relationships are built on respect, honesty, trust, and kindness, not pressure, secrecy, fear, or control.
Canada Is Taking Action
Canada has made important progress in responding to sexual exploitation through stronger laws, public awareness campaigns, and national strategies to combat human trafficking.
These efforts include:
- Criminal Code offences that target human trafficking and those who profit from exploitation.
- The National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, which focuses on prevention, protection, prosecution, survivor support, and partnerships.
- Public education campaigns led by Public Safety Canada to help Canadians recognize the signs of trafficking and know how to respond.
- Provincial anti-human trafficking strategies that provide additional prevention and survivor support.
Parliament has also considered legislation aimed at improving online safety for children and strengthening protections against digital exploitation, including AI and social media.
These efforts matter, but laws alone cannot prevent exploitation. Parents, educators, coaches, faith leaders, neighbours, and community members all play an important role in creating safer communities.
Prevention Starts with All of Us
At Defend Dignity, we believe prevention begins long before trafficking occurs.
Children learn about relationships from many places: family, friends, social media, schools, gaming platforms, influencers, and the content they consume online. When we teach children about respect, healthy relationships, consent, digital citizenship, and online safety, we help them recognize unhealthy behaviour before it becomes exploitation.
Every conversation matters.
Every trusted adult matters.
Every child deserves to grow up knowing they are valued, respected, and worthy of protection.
Learn More
Protecting children starts with staying informed. If you’d like to learn more about sexual exploitation, human trafficking, online safety, or how to recognize grooming, these trusted Canadian resources are a great place to start.
Government of Canada
- Public Safety Canada: Human Trafficking Awareness: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-safety-canada/campaigns/human-trafficking.html
- National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/hmn-trffckng/index-en.aspx
- Statistics Canada: Human Trafficking in Canada: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca
Parents and Caregivers
- Canadian Centre for Child Protection: https://www.protectchildren.ca
- ca: https://www.cybertip.ca
- Kids Help Phone: https://kidshelpphone.ca
If You Need Help
- Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline: https://www.canadianhumantraffickinghotline.ca
Call 1-833-900-1010 (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) or use the confidential online chat. - If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.
This Canada Day, Let’s Build the Canada We Want to Celebrate
Canada’s future isn’t built by governments alone. It’s built by parents who have difficult conversations, teachers who create safe classrooms, coaches who mentor with integrity, neighbours who look out for one another, and communities that refuse to ignore exploitation.
This Canada Day, let’s celebrate not only the country we call home, but also our shared commitment to protecting the dignity of every person. Together, we can build a Canada where every child is safe, every survivor is supported, and sexual exploitation has no place.
Happy Canada Day from all of us at Defend Dignity.
Holly Wood
Advocacy & Research Coordinator
Comments 2
Thank you for the work you do!
Author
Thank you for your support!