Canada is a constitutional monarchy and a federal state with a democratic system of government. The federal government exercises jurisdiction over Canada’s ten provinces and three territories on matters that must be treated uniformly across the country, such as criminal law, immigration, trade and commerce. Provincial governments have jurisdiction over areas such as education, health and welfare.

Canada has a high standard of living and in 2010 ranked 8th in the world on the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Index. It is a multicultural country with two official languages, English and French.

Following the 1996 Stockholm and the 2001 Yokohama global forums on the CSEC, Canada reaffirmed its commitments at the World Congress III against the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, in November 2008 in Brazil. The World Congress III renewed global commitment and galvanised international resolve to combat sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. In total, more than 3,000 people took part in the three-day gathering, including representatives from government, the private sector and civil society as well as 300 children and adolescents from around the world.

Child prostitution

While child prostitution is present throughout Canada, it is most visible in larger urban centres, such as Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, where small organised crime groups often control prostitution rings involving children. It is estimated that the average age of children entering prostitution in Canada is 13 to 18. Despite this problem, there are extremely limited services to support sexually exploited children. Experts in the field note that the single biggest challenge is securing safe housing for these child victims, as organisations providing shelter and focused services struggle to find funding to provide the full array of services needed.

Several distinct groups of children are at particular risk of becoming involved in the sex trade in Canada. Those vulnerable groups include runaways, unwanted children, youth living independently, and children using Internet communications to solicit clients for sex. These children generally lack supervision and are developmentally unprepared to deal with the dangers associated with the sex trade.

Child trafficking for sexual purposes

Canada is a source, transit, and destination country for children subjected to trafficking in persons. Across the country Canadian women and girls, particularly from Aboriginal communities, and foreign women and children, primarily from Asia and Eastern Europe, have been identified as victims of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. Victims of sex trafficking have been identified from the following countries: China, Hong Kong, Fiji, Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines, Romania, Ukraine and Moldova. It is reported that Asian victims are found primarily in Vancouver and Western Canada while victims from Eastern Europe are primarily sent to Toronto, Montreal and Eastern Canada. Authorities also report Canadian lawmakers continue to grapple with the pressures and complexities of new technologies that increase the availability of child pornography. In the past several years, investigators in Canada have reported an increase in the number of videos available that depict child sexual abuse, as well as an increase in the size of personal collections that organised crime units are often involved and that many of the victims, especially ones from South Korea, were “in-transit” to the United States.

The Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada (CISC) conducted a study on organised crime and domestic trafficking in persons in Canada, which found that girls as young as 12, many coming from middle-class families, are being recruited and trafficked inter and intra-provincially by a number of organised crime syndicates and family-based networks. The study noted that traffickers are controlling their victims through rape, assaults, and threats to family members; daily earnings from trafficking range from $300 to $1,500.

Child pornography/abuse images

Canadian lawmakers continue to grapple with the pressures and complexities of new technologies that increase the availability of child pornography. In the past several years, investigators in Canada have reported an increase in the number of videos available that depict child sexual abuse, as well as an increase in the size of personal collections that organised crime units are often involved and that many of the victims, especially ones from South Korea, were “in-transit” to the United States. This is likely due to advances in technology, such as high bandwidth, digital technology, increased storage capacity, decreased cost of personal computers and video recording equipment, such as digital video cameras. A large number of child abuse images are in circulation and accessed within Canada.

Child sex tourism

Canada is a source country for child sex tourists, Canadian nationals who travel abroad to engage in sexual acts with children. A professor at the University of British Columbia reviewed information from the Department of Justice on sexual exploitation charges overseas and found that, while 146 Canadians were charged with child sex offences overseas from 1993-2007, only one was convicted under laws against childsex tourism. As of February 2011, only three Canadians had been convicted under the Canadian sex tourism law, and progress remains slow. Other countries, such as the U.S. and Australia, with similar laws against citizens travelling overseas to sexually abuse children have achieved a much higher number of prosecutions and convictions.

In 2007, a Canadian citizen was accused of 35 sex crimes involving underage girls — some as young as nine — in Colombia, Cambodia and the Philippines between 1997 and 2002. His lawyer argued that the sex tourism law was unconstitutional because the offences allegedly occurred outside Canada. However, in 2009, the Supreme Court of British Columbia upheld the validity of Canada’s child sex-tourism laws stating, “a nation has a sovereign interest in preventing the sexual exploitation of children, regardless of where it occurs.”

A small Canadian police presence in embassies overseas means that Canada must rely on foreign countries to gather evidence and charge offenders, which is rare in many contexts due to lack of enforcement and resources in destination countries.

In November 2011, the Supreme Court of British Columbia upheld a law banning polygamy, holding that, though the law does violate religious freedom, the harm suffered by women and children is sufficient to justify restrictions on religious liberty. The proceedings included the registration of 31 underage girl victims of trafficking between the USA and Canada for forced marriage in polygamous communities. The judge ruled that children under the age of 18 should not be prosecuted under the anti-polygamy law and asked Parliament to amend the law to clarify this point. This case highlights the fact that Canada must improve enforcement of its anti-polygamy law to ensure that young girls are not trafficked and forced to marry and bear children.

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