Alberta Reaffirms Commitment to Combat Human Trafficking With $5.5 Million Grant Funding

The Alberta government is providing $5.5 million in grants to community groups combatting human trafficking, an industry from which police rescued 63 victims last year.The province announced on Aug. 18 that it would provide funding through the Combatting Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) grant to organizations working to prevent human trafficking, protect at-risk people, and support survivors.The funding is in partnership with the Alberta Centre to End Trafficking in Persons and is intended to improve survivors’ access to supports while increasing agencies’ capacity to identify and respond to trafficking.Besides Alberta, the federal government recently provided funding to several non-governmental organizations for human trafficking victims and survivors.Human Rights ViolationsHuman trafficking violates fundamental human rights by exploiting vulnerable individuals, stripping their freedom, tearing apart families, and leaving devastation, the province said in an Aug. 18 news release. Traffickers prey on vulnerable people for profit and use manipulation, coercion, drugs, and violence to control and exploit victims.“This funding will help victims escape their abusers and rebuild their lives,” said Mike Ellis, minister of public safety and emergency services. “With our partners across the province, we are raising awareness about the effects of human trafficking and finding ways to end it.”Of the $5.5 million, $2.7 million will support currently funded groups delivering services to victims and survivors, the news release said. The province consulted with the Alberta Centre to select recipients from organizations that have consistently received CTIP funding since the program began in 2024.Organizations that will receive the funding include the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT), Catholic Social Services, HER Victory Society, Narrow Road Society, REACH Edmonton, RESET Society of Calgary, the Salvation Army, and Waypoints Community Services Association.Projects must focus on helping people escape and recover from human trafficking, raising public awareness, strengthening collaboration, and ensuring services follow trauma-informed, survivor-focused practices.The Alberta Centre will continue to train organizations and coordinate response efforts across the province, the release said.“Across Alberta, we have heard a consistent message: we need to better understand what is working, where gaps remain, and how resources can have the greatest impact,” said Paul Brandt, chairman of the Alberta Centre to End Trafficking in Persons.The new funding approach reflects feedback received by the centre and is intended to strengthen coordination, support prevention, and help victims and survivors access appropriate services, Brandt added.Paul Brandt performs at the Canadian Country Music Awards in Calgary on Sept. 8, 2019. Brandt says he knew he would devote his life to fighting human trafficking when he looked into the eyes of a 5-year-old Cambodian girl who was being sold for sex between six and eight times a night. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntoshAlberta DataALERT’s annual report said a “recurring pattern” in 2025–26 was the interprovincial and migratory nature of human trafficking suspects. Some suspects had relocated from outside Alberta, suggesting that local networks and mobile offenders were targeting communities while moving along established corridors.“ALERT’s integrated model, made possible by the Government of Alberta, connects provincial and federal partners to identify and apprehend these criminals that exploit vulnerable persons,” the report said.ALERT reported that 63 victims were rescued in 2025–26, while police charged 73 suspects and laid 159 charges. In 2024–25, 268 victims were rescued, 55 suspects were charged, and 117 charges were laid.Canadian DataThe most recent Canadian statistics show 608 human trafficking cases in 2024, up from 605 in 2023 and 596 in 2022.Women and girls accounted for 93 percent of victims, while 63 percent were under age 25. Men and boys accounted for 82 percent of accused. Also, from 2013–14 to 2023–24, about 10 percent of cases resulted in a guilty verdict, but 78 percent of convictions resulted in a custodial sentence.Meanwhile, the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline identified 466 cases involving 579 victims in 2024, a 23 percent increase from the year before. Since launching in 2019, the hotline has identified more than 2,030 cases.According to the U.S. Department of State’s 2025 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, government-funded NGOs in Canada identified an estimated 1,888 trafficking victims in 2024, compared with 1,135 in 2023.Federal SupportOn July 30, World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, the federal government highlighted changes to the Criminal Code intended to help victims, hold traffickers accountable, and “prevent this heinous crime.”Ottawa also provided $3.35 million to nine non-governmental organizations for projects supporting victims and survivors.“Every survivor deserves to know that they are not alone and that help is available. This investment is more than funding, it is an investment in hope, healing, and second chances,” Cristina Scarpellini, founder and executive director of Angels of Hope Against Human Trafficking, said in a news release.Scarpellini said the organization appreciated Ottawa’s recognition of the role community organizations play in helping survivors recover.“Together, we can continue building a future where survivors are empowered, traffickers are held accountable, and human trafficking has no place in our communities,” she added.