Province Investing $345 Million to Protect Ontario from Human Trafficking
The Ontario government is protecting young people and vulnerable communities by investing $345 million to renew its Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy (AHTS) – the largest investment of its kind in the country. Since its launch in 2020, the strategy has trained more than 1,000 front-line workers and helped tens of thousands of survivors, as well as children who were being or at risk of being trafficked, leading to hundreds of charges and arrests. As part of the strategy, the province is also officially launching a new Children at Risk of Exploitation (CARE) Unit in Kenora to help protect children and youth in the region from sex trafficking and support survivors.
“As we mark World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, it is more important than ever to expand our work with community partners to protect children and youth, support survivors and hold offenders accountable,” said Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. “Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is proud to renew Ontario’s Historic Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy. The launch of the Kenora CARE Unit is part of our plan to ensure vulnerable people can get support in every corner of our province.”
Ontario’s AHTS – renewed in the Spring 2025 – is centred on four pillars: awareness and prevention, protecting victims, supporting survivors and holding offenders accountable. As part of the AHTS, Ontario established its first two CARE Units in Toronto and Durham Region. These specialized intervention teams of child protection workers, police officers and Indigenous liaisons work collaboratively to identify and locate children and youth who are being sex trafficked or are at risk, connect them to services, and support investigations to hold offenders accountable, serving more than 200 children ages 12 to 17 every year.
“Today’s launch of the new Kenora CARE Unit is a direct response to what communities across Northwestern Ontario have been calling for: targeted, trauma-informed services for youth when and where they need them,” said Greg Rickford, MPP for Kenora—Rainy River and Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation. “Our government’s additional $6 million investment will strengthen the front-line services that are already making a difference and ensure young people at risk of exploitation have access to the safe spaces and stability they deserve.”
To support the Kenora CARE Unit, the Ontario government is providing $6 million over three years to increase trauma‐informed and specialized supports in the region for children and youth who have been sex trafficked. As part of this investment, there will be a new licensed out-of-home care residence for survivors and a new Youth-In-Transition Worker in the region, specialized in anti-human trafficking.
“The Kenora CARE Unit will help ensure that those tasked with protecting children and youth have the tools needed to act swiftly to prevent sex trafficking and connect survivors to the supports they deserve,” said Solicitor General Michael Kerzner. “This new unit, together with the renewal of the Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy, demonstrates our government’s ongoing work, empowering law enforcement to combat human trafficking in this province.”
Building on the success of the first two units, the Kenora CARE Unit will be led by Anishinaabe Abinoojii Family Services and Kenora-Rainy River Districts Child & Family Services, who will work with the Kenora Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the OPP’s Anti-Human Trafficking team assigned to the area. Ontario’s renewed Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy will continue to invest in actions across government to combat human trafficking and child exploitation and protect the province’s most vulnerable people.
