Calls to the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline are strictly confidential. It is always up to the caller to decide how much information they wish to provide. Callers are never required to provide their name or any other identifying details if they do not wish to do so.
Individuals can both receive assistance and report a tip anonymously. The hotline will never share personally identifying information with an external agency (including law enforcement, service providers, immigration etc.) without the explicit consent of the caller, except where required by law. The hotline will protect an individual’s identity and/or identifying details when sharing the information with the appropriate investigative agency.
The hotline collects two type types of data:
- Personally identifying information relating to a case of human trafficking (such as name of trafficker, basic demographic information, the type of trafficking etc.); and
- Non-personally identifying information (such as the city/province of a caller and how they learned about the hotline)
The hotline will collect personally identifying information when it is necessary to help a victim or survivor access services, to assist law enforcement in getting a person to safety, or for the purpose of a law enforcement investigation.
The hotline may produce statistical public reports based on non-personally identifying aggregated data to identify human trafficking trends and patterns. The goal of this is to inform anti-trafficking stakeholders and support intervention and prevention efforts at the local, provincial, and federal level. The hotline will not share unique or unusual cases if it believes they can be used to identify a person or situation.
The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline provides support to victims and survivors, friends and family, service providers, law enforcement, and government, as well as other community members and professionals in the anti-trafficking field and allied sectors. The following are just some of the services the hotline may provide:
- Crisis and emergency assistance to victims and survivors of human trafficking
- Facilitating the reporting of a human trafficking tip to law enforcement
- Connecting individuals with anti-trafficking supports and services, as well as services in other allied service areas (e.g. domestic violence and sexual assault, runaway and homeless youth, and newcomers to Canada)
- Assisting with access to general information and resources as applicable
- Getting involved with anti-trafficking efforts in your community
The hotline’s mission is to respond to victim and survivors by providing them with access to the critical supports and services they need to get help and stay safe. The hotline also works to educate and equip the anti-trafficking community, stakeholders, governments, and other partners with the knowledge and tools necessary to combat trafficking.
The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline is staffed by professional, trained anti-trafficking Hotline Response Advocates who provide responses to callers in both French and English. All Advocates have undergone extensive victim-centred training prior to answering calls. Additional translation services are available to callers in over 200 languages immediately upon request.
The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline is operated by The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking (The Centre), a national charitable, non-governmental organization whose mission is to end human trafficking in Canada. For more information about The Centre and our work, please visit our website.
The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline is funded in partnership with Public Safety Canada, a federal department of the Government of Canada, and by other private supporters and corporate partners. The Hotline is operated by The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking, a Canadian non-governmental organization and registered charity. The Hotline is not a government entity, or immigration, investigative or law enforcement agency. The Hotline is not a direct service provider.
The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline offers a toll-free, confidential, multilingual referral service available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week and 365 days per year, from anywhere in Canada. You may call to speak to a trained professional any time of day or night.
You can also submit a tip report online 24/7, which will be reviewed by trained staff. Reports are reviewed and prioritized based on urgency. Click here to read more about reporting considerations.
Email communications and electronic tip submissions are reviewed frequently and within a 24-hour period. For immediate assistance, please call the hotline at 1-833-900-1010.
The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline is a dedicated and expert hotline that accepts calls about all forms of human trafficking, including both sex and labour trafficking. The hotline provides assistance to, and on behalf of, minors, adults, citizens, permanent residents, and foreign nationals.
The hotline services all victims and survivors of human trafficking regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or any other factor protected by local, provincial, or federal law.
We encourage individuals to contact the Hotline if they:
- Are a victim or survivor of trafficking
- Know of a potential victim of trafficking or have information about a potential case
- Have a friend or family member who is a victim or survivor of trafficking
- Are a social service or legal service provider
- Are a member of a human trafficking task force, collaborative, or coalition
- Are a frontline professional (e.g. medical professional, educator, lawyer)
- Are a policy maker or government representative
If you are a student or community member interested in learning more about human trafficking, interested in raising awareness, and/or interested in volunteer or career opportunities, we invite you to visit the resources on our website.
French and English-speaking Hotline Response Advocates are available at any time. For all other language requests, the Advocate will connect callers to a third-party tele-interpretation service and continue the conversation in the caller’s language of choice. The tele-interpretation service used is bound by the same confidentiality policies as the hotline.
Your call will be answered by a professionally trained anti-trafficking Hotline Response Advocate. French and English-speaking Advocates are available at any time. For all other language requests, the Advocate will connect callers to a third-party tele-interpretation service and continue the conversation in the caller’s language of choice.
Calls to the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline are strictly confidential. It is always the decision of the caller to determine how much information they wish to provide. Callers will never be required to provide their name or other identifying details if they do wish to do so.
The Hotline Response Advocate will begin the conversation by asking the caller questions to ensure they are safe, as well as questions to determine what type of assistance they are looking for, and how the hotline can best meet their stated needs. If the caller’s immediate safety concerns have been addressed, the Hotline Response Advocate is there to listen and discuss the options available, based on the situation and needs.
If a caller is reporting a tip or seeking service referrals, the Advocate may conduct a brief assessment to identify specific trafficking indicators. To meet specific referral requests, the Advocate may ask for personal details such as age, gender identity, preferred language, cultural identity, status in Canada, current location, etc. This information will only be used to locate the appropriate services in the caller’s area.
The Hotline services all victims and survivors of human trafficking regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or any other factor protected by local, provincial, or federal law.
A Hotline Response Advocate may:
- Refer or connect a caller directly to a local social service provider
- Provide safety planning recommendations and/or general emotional support
- Make a report to law enforcement
- Provide additional resources if available
The Hotline Response Advocate will not take action without your consent, except in specific circumstances involving mandatory reporting to protect minors or suspected cases of imminent harm to the caller or others. The hotline is always available simply to talk about a caller’s different options.
The hotline is operated by The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking, a Canadian non-governmental organization and registered charity. The hotline is not a government entity, or immigration, investigative, or law enforcement agency. The hotline is not a direct service provider; instead it aims to help callers access direct services through the National Referral Directory and to facilitate the reporting of potential human trafficking tips to law enforcement agencies.
Yes – all calls to the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline are confidential, and calls are not recorded. The hotline strives to abide by the highest ethical standards regarding confidentiality. All communication with the hotline is confidential to the extent permitted by the law. The hotline does not release identifying information about a caller, including to law enforcement, service providers, agencies or other individuals, and will not confirm an individual has/has not called the hotline unless given explicit consent to do so by the caller.
The hotline will inform appropriate authorities of situations that reference the suspected abuse of a minor, potential imminent harm to a caller or others, or where the law requires the hotline to report. It is always the decision of the caller to determine how much information is disclosed to Hotline Response Advocate during a call.
The hotline does accept anonymous tips. If a caller wishes to remain anonymous, they do not need to provide their name or identifying details about the situation unless they are comfortable doing so. If a caller wishes to remain anonymous, the hotline will protect their identity and/or identifying details when sharing the information with the appropriate investigative agency.
Tip reports can be made via the confidential online form,via email, or by calling the hotline at 1-833-900-1010.
The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline facilitates the reporting of potential labour and sex trafficking situations involving adults, minors, foreign nationals, Canadian citizens, males, females, and transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. Tips may be made anonymously. (Read our Confidentiality Policy here).
Each tip, situation, and caller is unique. Reporting decisions are made on a case-by-case basis to determine the most appropriate next steps, which prioritize the safety and consent of those involved.
The nature of the response will depend on:
- The urgency of the situation
- The needs and wishes of the victim (if known)
- The specificity and detail of the information provided
- The presence of specific trafficking-related indicators
- The relevant provincial or federal laws; and
- The referral and reporting protocols established between the hotline and local partners in a given area
Every case received through the hotline via email or online tip report form will be reviewed and evaluated by a Supervisor to determine if it should be passed on to the appropriate investigative agency or an agency equipped to investigate the tip and/or respond to the needs of the potential victim.
The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline respects every caller’s agency and right to decide whether or not to report information about their respective experience to law enforcement or other parties. The hotline is mindful that information provided by the hotline to law enforcement can sometimes lead to increased investigations, prosecutions, deter future trafficking and help victims leave situations of human trafficking.
Whenever possible, Hotline Response Advocates endeavour to speak directly with victims/survivors to discuss the referral and reporting options available to them and to receive express consent to make a report on their behalf. Consent of the individual and safety of those involved are most important factors that are considered when determining whether or not to make a report.
The hotline will take action in specific circumstances or situations that reference the abuse of a minor, where there is reason to believe that imminent harm may come to the caller or others, or where the hotline is required by law to report.
Determined by specially trained hotline staff, tips are prioritized by their level of urgency:
- Urgent Cases: A Response Manager will initiate a response plan for urgent cases while the caller is on the phone or shortly after ending the call. All cases involving minor victims are considered urgent cases.
- Non-Urgent Cases: A Response Manager will review and report these cases (when appropriate) within 24 hours of receipt.
- Lack of Information: Tips lacking appropriate detail or concrete information about a potential human trafficking situation may not be reported by the hotline.
The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline is not a law enforcement or investigative agency and cannot provide updates on the status or outcome of cases reported to law enforcement. If you would like to provide additional information about a case you previously reported to the hotline, contact the hotline again and a supplementary report to law enforcement will be made.
The National Referral Directory is a Canada-wide repository of direct service providers, developed with the intention of providing access to critical emergency, transitional and long-term supports for victims and survivors of trafficking in Canada, facilitating the reporting of suspected trafficking cases to law enforcement agencies, and providing individuals with resources on human trafficking and opportunities to get involved in their community.
The National Referral Directory includes direct service providers that have a mandate, programming, funding and/or training to provide support to victims of trafficking. The directory also includes organizations that address human trafficking in an indirect way through a specific organizational or programmatic focus. It aims to cover all provinces and territories in Canada, and the public version of the directory shares information about organizations who have agreed to make their information publicly searchable. For more information on the directory, inclusion criteria and the application from, click here.
Any service providers interested in joining the National Referral Directory are encouraged to review the application guidelines and inclusion criteria here. The application form can be found here. All organizations have the ability to opt out of the public version of the online directory if they wish and are asked to make this known during the partnership development process.
If you would like to update or change your organization’s record, please contact your assigned Partnership Specialist directly. You may also send an email to partnership@ccteht.ca and the appropriate Partnership Specialist will follow up with you as soon as possible.
To ensure the hotline has the most up-to-date information, you may be asked periodically to confirm that the information about your organization, service provision, contact information, hours of operation, etc. are correct.
The hotline is funded and mandated to respond to callers seeking assistance in Canada and report cases of human trafficking in Canada. Request for services outside of Canada may be referred to outside agencies or other dedicated human trafficking helplines where applicable. For assistance outside of Canada, please refer to The Global Modern Slavery Directory, a compilation of anti-trafficking resources in over 145 countries.
