National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking Act

This bill would legally require the federal Minister of Public Safety to maintain and keep updated Canada's National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, which already exists as a government policy but would now become a legal obligation. The strategy must aim to end human trafficking, support survivors, and help fulfill Canada's commitments under several international agreements on human trafficking and children's rights. The law spells out specific things the strategy must address, including helping survivors reintegrate into their communities, funding support services, running public awareness campaigns, tackling root causes like poverty and discrimination, protecting groups at higher risk such as Indigenous, Black, and Asian women and girls, at-risk youth, and migrants, training police and prosecutors to handle cases with sensitivity to trauma, building partnerships with other governments and countries, and maintaining a public website with resources and research.

The bill also sets up an ongoing review process. Within two years of the law taking effect, and every five years after that, the Minister must review the strategy, consult with provinces, municipalities, affected communities, survivors, and other stakeholders, and report the results to Parliament. These reviews must be guided by principles such as protecting human rights, using trauma-informed approaches, recognizing how factors like race, gender, and disability can affect a person's risk and recovery, and relying on diverse evidence including survivors' input and Indigenous knowledge.

Finally, the bill requires the Minister to prepare and table an annual report in Parliament on the progress made in implementing the strategy and combating human trafficking each year. It also requires that the advisory committee of survivors, and the government's chief advisor on human trafficking, be made up of people who have personally experienced human trafficking.

This bill requires the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to maintain, review, and report to Parliament on a National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, with defined content, consultation, and review requirements.

• Who holds the duty — the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness must maintain and update the National Strategy; no new body or office is created.
• Content requirements — the Strategy must include specific measures (support for survivors, prevention campaigns, criminal justice capacity-building, a public website, staff training, and monitoring of objectives and timelines), and the Minister must ensure the Survivor Advisory Committee members and the Chief Advisor to Combat Human Trafficking are people with lived experience of trafficking.
• Discretion in delivery — the Act does not specify funding levels, staffing, or the precise design of programs; the Minister decides how to fulfil the listed aims and which additional stakeholders to consult beyond those named.
• Review cycle — the Minister must review the Strategy within two years of the Act coming into force and every five years after that, following public consultation and consideration of listed human-rights and trauma-informed principles; a report on each review must be tabled in Parliament within 15 sitting days and published online within 10 days of tabling.
• Annual reporting — the Minister must produce and table a report each fiscal year on implementation and progress, within the first 15 sitting days after completion.
• Oversight — the only oversight mechanisms are the tabling of review and annual reports in Parliament and their online publication; the Act does not create a vote, penalty, enforcement power, or sunset clause tied to these obligations.