Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Canada

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) (Ratification: 2011)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (Ratification: 2019)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention, and Article 1(2) of the Protocol. National policy. Trafficking in persons. Federal policy. The Committee notes from the Government’s information regarding the reports on the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking (2019–2024), published every two years, that highlight the efforts made, measures taken and areas of progress achieved under the Strategy’s five pillars of empowerment, prevention, protection, prosecution and partnerships.

The Committee takes note of the June 2024 Horizontal Evaluation Report of the National Strategy, which refers to the continued need to prevent the trafficking of individuals, support victims and survivors, improve Canadian law enforcement's ability to apprehend and prosecute perpetrators, and continue increasing awareness of human trafficking among the Canadian public and vulnerable populations. Moreover, the Committee also notes, from the 2023–25 Report on the National Strategy, that from August 2024 and March 2025, Public Safety Canada and other federal partners held engagement sessions to promote open discussions with several stakeholders to identify gaps, emerging issues, and trends to be addressed through a renewed National Strategy. Three priority areas were identified: (1) addressing all and emerging forms of human trafficking, in particular sex and labour trafficking, the two most prevalent forms; (2) supporting populations experiencing increased risk; and (3) employing international best practices and technological advancements.

The Committee welcomes the efforts made by Government and encourages it to continue to take systematic and coordinated action against trafficking in persons through the renewed National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, while ensuring that the gaps and priority areas identified are effectively addressed. The Committee encourages the Government to continue assessing the implementation of the National Strategy and provide information on the challenges identified and results achieved.

Provincial policies. The Committee notes the Government’s information regarding the policies adopted in certain provinces. In the framework of Alberta’s 9 Point Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking of Alberta, a grant was set up in 2023 to establish an office to combat trafficking in persons (the Alberta Centre to End Trafficking in Persons), which launched its website in 2025. In partnership with the Centre, the Combating Trafficking in Persons Grant was announced in 2025 to support 19 organizations focused on prevention, protection and empowering survivors of human trafficking. In Ontario, an investment of 307 million Canadian dollars in the five-year Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy was announced in 2024 to raise awareness, protect victims, intervene early, support survivors and hold offenders accountable.

The Committee once again welcomes the continued efforts of provincial Governments and encourages them to continue providing information on the measures adopted, including whether any assessments of such strategies have been undertaken.

Article 25 of the Convention and Article 1(1) of the Protocol. Prosecution and imposition of sanctions. The Committee notes the Government’s information that, according to the data available through the Uniform Crime Reporting system, the police estimated investigating 555 incidents of trafficking offences and charged 269 individuals in 2021; 528 incidents in 2022 with 212 individuals charged; and 512 incidents investigated in 2023. Between April 2023 and March 2024, federal officials opened investigations into 133 new cases. Moreover, between April 2021 and March 2022, federal, provincial, and municipal authorities prosecuted at least 184 alleged trafficking cases and reached guilty convictions in at least 37 cases. Between, 1 April 2023 and 30 September 2023, authorities estimated prosecuting 129 cases and convicting 24 traffickers, and 6 prosecutions were ongoing from the prior reporting period.

Moreover, the Committee notes, from the 2023–25 Report on the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, that initiatives have continued under the prosecution pillar to increase the capacity of the criminal justice system to identify and prosecute human trafficking cases. These include: (1) training initiatives for law enforcement bodies; (2) increased monitoring of cross-border movements, particularly with the participation of the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA); and (3) enhancing financial intelligence related to the laundering of proceeds of crime derived from human trafficking to support investigations.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that while efforts have been undertaken and progress achieved on information-sharing and coordination among federal, provincial, territorial and municipal authorities, comprehensive law enforcement data covering all Canadian jurisdictions, as well as specific sentencing data for convicted traffickers, is not yet available. Furthermore, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, of July 2024, law enforcement actions appear to focus disproportionately on commercial sexual exploitation over labour exploitation, and proactive investigations of labour trafficking cases are reportedly less frequent in comparison with sex trafficking cases (A/HRC/57/46/Add.1).

The Committee therefore encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to strengthen the capacity of law-enforcement authorities to ensure proactive investigation and prosecution of both labour and commercial sexual exploitation, including through the availability of all necessary and useful data in this regard. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of prosecutions and convictions, as well as on the penalties applied under sections 279.01 of the Criminal Code and section 118 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, once this data becomes available.

Article 3 of the Protocol. Protection and rehabilitation of victims of forced labour. The Committee takes notes of the detailed information provided by the Government regarding the measures taken by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to protect victims of trafficking and provide support for their rehabilitation and social integration. The Committee welcomes the wide range of measures adopted in this regard, taking note as well of the findings in the 2024 Horizontal Evaluation of the National Strategy, according to which positive impacts have been reported on the contribution made by the National Strategy to fund projects on community capacity to better support victims and survivors in regaining control and independence.

The Committee also takes due note, from the Government’s report, that between January and October 2022, 138 temporary residence permits (TRPs) were issued to foreign victims of trafficking and their dependants, and that 98 TRPs were issued between January and October 2023. During the same period in 2023, the Government issued 96 work permits to foreign trafficking victims and their dependants, a decrease from 263 such permits issued in 2022; foreign victims were from Mexico, Guatemala, Philippines, Republic of Korea, The Bahamas, United States, Barbados, and Bangladesh.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide statistical information on the number of victims of forced labour who have obtained temporary resident permit for victims of trafficking in persons.

Article 4 of the Protocol. Access to appropriate and effective remedies, including compensation. Referring to its previous comments, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the number of victims of forced labour who have claimed and obtained compensation or other forms of remedies.

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. 1. Freedom of civil servants to leave their service. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that consideration is ongoing as regards amending section 24 of the Civil Service Act of New Brunswick, according to which the resignation of a public service employee is subject to the acceptance by the deputy head. The Government indicates that this provision has not been a barrier for civil servants choosing to leave public service in practice. The Committee requests the Government to inform on the future amendment of section 24 of the New Brunswick Civil Service Act.

2. Obligation to work overtime. Nursing personnel. Following its previous comments, in which the Committee took note of the measures taken by the Government of Québec regarding the practice of mandatory overtime by nursing personnel in application of section 59.01 of the Act respecting Labour Standards of Québec, the Committee notes that the statistics provided by the Government on the rates of forced overtime between 2021 and 2023, according to which these rates are decreasing, particularly since March 2023. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that agreements in principle have been reached with certain trade unions in the health and education sectors for the renewal of collective agreements for 2023–28, which provide for certain measures such as double overtime pay on weekends and the possibility of converting overtime into time off, increased bonuses, self-management of schedules and flexible working hours.

The Committee notes the observations of the FIQ, according to which its members ratified a conciliator’s recommendation in October 2023 that now serves as a collective agreement. This agreement settles past disputes over mandatory overtime and requires employers to take measures to avoid relying on this practice, limiting its use to emergency and exceptional situations. As the FIQ’s principal objection concerned the use of mandatory overtime as a management tool, it expresses its approval of the restriction of this practice to urgent cases. The FIQ also indicates that overall statistics show a decline in the use of mandatory overtime. While the FIQ will remain vigilant, it considers that continued examination of this point by the Committee is no longer necessary at this stage. The Committee takes note with interest of the measures taken to address the practice of mandatory overtime by nursing personnel.

Article 2(2)(c) of the Convention. Compulsory labour exacted as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law. Prison labour. The Committee takes due note of the Government’s information that the new Corrections Act of Nunavut passed into law in 2019 and came into force in 2024, and that labour is not compulsory for clients at correctional facilities in the territory.