Human trafficking can happen to anyone, but in Canada, it’s most often experienced by people facing systemic barriers and social vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities can make it harder to find safe housing, access support, or leave an exploitative situation.

Education and awareness are key to prevention. Knowing the signs of trafficking, and what to do if you spot them, can help keep our communities, including your tenants, safe.

It’s not always obvious when someone is being trafficked. At its core, trafficking is about control. Traffickers use force, fraud or coercion to exploit people for profit, often by taking advantage of someone’s need for safety, income, or a sense of belonging.

In Canada, the most reported form of human trafficking is sex trafficking, which disproportionately affects women, youth, and gender-diverse people. Labour trafficking is also a serious concern, particularly among migrant workers who may be isolated, underpaid, or living in inhumane conditions with little power to speak out or leave.

Data collected by the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking, a national charitable organization working to end all forms of trafficking in Canada, indicates that trafficking happens in communities of all sizes: from the largest urban centres to the smallest rural hamlets.

Some traffickers will move people frequently to avoid suspicion, rarely staying in one place long enough to raise red flags. One major trafficking corridor runs from Halifax through Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, stretching as far as the prairies and West Coast. But not all trafficking involves movement. Other traffickers may stay in the same location and exploit people in a single community, sometimes for months or even years.

Traffickers are increasingly using online platforms to recruit, advertise, and exert control. Social media, dating apps, ride-sharing services and short-term rental platforms can all be misused to enable trafficking. These platforms have made it easier for traffickers to hide behind fake identities, appear credible and trustworthy, and gain trust with the intent of using the property to facilitate trafficking.

Rental properties can be attractive to traffickers because they offer privacy, frequent turnover, and limited oversight. As a landlord or property manager, you’re in a key position to help disrupt this form of exploitation. Your awareness can make a meaningful difference for your tenants and the broader community.

Sex trafficking isn’t always easy to spot, so it helps to know what to look for. One sign on its own might not mean that trafficking is happening, but when several happen together, they may point to someone being controlled or exploited.

Common Warning Signs

• Being controlled by others, driven to-and-from locations;
• Being monitored, escorted and watched by others;
• Doesn’t have access to their own passport or other forms of ID;
• Doesn’t have control of their own money or mobile phone;
• Isn’t familiar with the neighbourhood where they live or work;
• Moves frequently; claims to be “new” or “just visiting”;
• Isn’t allowed to contact family or friends;
• Lies about their age or uses a fake ID;
• Provides scripted or rehearsed answers to casual questions;
• Has excess cash or items inconsistent with their financial means;
• Is frequently absent from home, school or other activities.

Putting clear anti-human trafficking policies and protocols in place is an important step toward keeping your property, and tenants, safe. Measures like thorough tenant screening and mandatory staff training not only help prevent exploitation, but also contribute to safer, more informed communities.

The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking works with individuals, organizations, and businesses to provide customized training and education on the realities of trafficking. The centre also operates the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline, a confidential, multilingual service available 24/7 to connect victims, survivors and communities with social services, law enforcement, and emergency services.

If you’re concerned about something you’ve seen or simply want to better understand what to watch for, the hotline is always here to help.

How Landlords and Property Managers Can Help

1. Connect with local anti-trafficking organizations like the centre to learn more about the issue and how to spot possible human trafficking.
2. Implement annual anti-human trafficking awareness training for management, maintenance staff and security personnel.
3. Develop a policy for suspected trafficking situations so staff and tenants feel supported and empowered if they encounter a trafficking situation.
4. Post the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline’s free awareness materials in common spaces and property management offices. This ensures that anyone seeking information, support or resources knows where to turn.
5. Use thorough screening practices to verify the identity of prospective tenants, especially when applying online. Conduct regular check-ins and required unit inspections, and work to foster a shared sense of safety and responsibility within the property.

Traffickers rely on privacy, inaction and silence. But with training, clear policies, and an informed team, you can make your properties harder to exploit and safer for everyone who lives and works there.

By The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking

The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking is a national charity dedicated to ending all types of human trafficking in Canada. Call the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-833-900-1010, available 24/7/365 and in over 200 languages. To learn more, contact info@ccteht.ca.

Additional Resources

• Promotional Materials for the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline (Printable Postcards, Posters, & Business Cards)
• It’s Time to T.A.L.K. (A Guide to Improve Understanding of Sex Trafficking and How to Have Conversations About it)
• Attainable Housing: Preventing Human Trafficking & Supporting Survivors (2024 Joint Written Submission to the Government of Saskatchewan)
• ECPAT International Training for Short-Term Rental Hosts around Child Exploitation (launched ahead of FIFA)