Canada’s “Project Protect”, an innovative model to hit traffickers' finances, says OSCE Special Representative on official visit

Ottawa, 24 June 2017 – OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Madina Jarbussynova, concluded on Friday a five-day follow-up visit to Canada to discuss the country’s progress in implementing OSCE anti-trafficking commitments subsequent to the previous 2011 Special Representative’s report.

“The progress made by Canada since the visit in 2011 is exemplary,” Jarbussynova noted. “The ‘Project Protect’,  implemented by the Financial Transaction Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) is an innovative model to identify traffickers and follow the money gained through exploitation of victims, thus contributing to the criminal investigation into human trafficking." 

“There is a wealth of commendable initiatives being undertaken across the country to address trafficking in persons, in particular for the purpose of sexual exploitation”, Jarbussynova said. “There is great momentum to step-up the implementation of the National Action Plan against human trafficking and I welcome the country’s ambitious methodology to evaluate what has been done so far in order to design ever better policies”. In a country with a federated governance structure, solid co-operation between national agencies, provinces and municipalities is critical and we look forward to the government’s plan to enhance data collection and reporting in this respect.

During her visit, Jarbussynova held in-depth discussions with the National Anti-Trafficking Task Force chaired by the Ministry of Public Safety, as well as with a wide range of institutions such as the Department of Justice, the Public Prosecution Service, Employment and Social Development Canada, the Financial Transaction Analysis Centre, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Human Trafficking National coordinating Centre, Honorary Geoff Regan, the speaker of the Parliament and Arnold Viersen, a member of the Parliament and the Global Affairs Canada. The Special Representative was also briefed by the Ontario Anti-Trafficking Coordination Office, to learn more about anti-trafficking activities carried out at the provincial level.

Jarbussynova also met with representatives of civil society and non-governmental organisations, including the Ottawa Coalition against Human Trafficking, the St. Joe’s Women’s Centre, and the Native Women Association of Canada.

The Special Representative regularly conducts goal-oriented high-profile country visits to strengthen the capacity of OSCE participating States to address human trafficking in a comprehensive and effective manner, as well as to collect and share knowledge and best practices in preventing this serious human rights violation. In 2017, she has visited the Russian Federation and Denmark. Additional country visits are planned this year to Mongolia and Uzbekistan.