Provincial Sex Trafficking Advocacy

BridgeNorth advocates at the provincial level to promote province-wide adoption of an Anti-Human Trafficking Protocol to prevent and identify human trafficking and facilitate early and appropriate intervention, in partnership with the province’s educators. 

In partnership with the York Region District School Board (YRDSB), our Founder and Executive Director, Casandra Diamond, co-developed the YRDSB Anti-Human Trafficking Protocol, creating the impetus for Motion 122. Motion 122 was subsequently adopted by the Province of Ontario, mandating a province-wide, collaborative approach for school boards, community police services, and community partners. This Anti-Human Trafficking Protocol was designed to prevent and identify human trafficking and facilitate early and appropriate intervention. 

Working with educators is a critical step in reducing the number of individuals who are trafficked and exploited in Canada, as the average age of recruitment is 12 to 14 years old. Casandra currently serves as Co-Vice Chair of the Education Committee responsible for crafting the provincial mandate.

BridgeNorth is also involved in contributing to, reviewing, and helping to enact the first, formal provincial anti-human trafficking strategy, 2020-2025. Ontario’s anti-human trafficking strategy raises awareness through:

• training and public awareness campaigns
• empowering frontline service providers like BridgeNorth to prevent human trafficking before it occurs and take action early
• supporting survivors through specialized services, and 
• giving law enforcement officials the tools and resources they need to hold offenders accountable. 

BridgeNorth is also a member of the province’s Lived Experience Roundtable, where we speak up for survivors and lead from lived experience.

We serve as a partner and hold provincial leaders accountable for taking the necessary action steps to deliver on this provincial strategy.