Following the
Government of Canada s 2019 budget announcement and formal evaluation of
Canada s National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking (HT), the federal
government introduced a new National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking that
sets out a comprehensive way forward to address this complex issue. The
strategy brought together all federal efforts aimed at addressing human
trafficking in Canada (and abroad) under one plan, framing all federal
activities under the internationally recognized pillars of prevention, protection,
prosecution, and partnerships, and adding a new pillar of empowerment to
ensure a more victim-centered approach. In-depth consultations conducted by
Public Safety Canada identified the vital need for increased public awareness
and knowledge, to help communities and stakeholders better recognize the early
signs of human trafficking, reduce the stigmatization of victims, and improve
proactive response to incidents.
As a first step in
addressing public awareness needs, Public Safety s marketing team contracted Environics
to conduct an online survey of Canadians in 2020. The purpose of this survey
was to establish a quantitative baseline of the current state of public opinion
on the issue of human trafficking, and provide the data required to conduct an
analysis of the knowledge attitudes and behaviours of the Canadian public. The
goal is to identify target audience segments (primary and secondary) for a
future marketing campaign on human trafficking. This initial baseline data
collection has been followed up with a tracking survey using a similar
methodology, which is the subject of this report.
Research objectives
include the following:
the tracking and evaluation of current HT
campaign performance in accordance with the Communications Policy of the
Government of Canada
gathering behavioural insights from
Indigenous audiences on current knowledge levels, attitudes and opinions
related to HT.
The results will
provide the Department with data to evaluate the current HT campaign strategy
and to inform marketing product development for Indigenous audiences.
Environics Research
conducted quantitative and qualitative research phases in support of this study;
the qualitative research is reported separately.
Environics conducted an online survey of 2,184 Canadians,
16 years of age and older. The surveys were completed from October 20 to November
13, 2023. The 2,184 respondents include members of the general public, plus
oversampled subgroups of interest. In total (those identified in the general
population plus the oversamples), the survey covered 836 parents of children
aged 13 to 19; 313 youth ages 16 to 19; 323 young adults aged 20 to 25; and 244
Indigenous parents and youth. This size of sample provides robust data to
understand behaviours, opinions, and attitudes within the total population and
subgroups of interest. Environics set quotas by age, gender, and region, and the
data have been weighted to ensure the sample is representative of these
populations according to the most recently available Census information.
Note that, in this report, racialized
persons refers to those respondents Chinese, Filipino, Other East or Southeast
Asian, South Asian, African/Black, Latin American, Arab, or West Asian.
The survey achieved the
following distributions (please note there is overlap in the categories; youth
includes Indigenous youth; parents include indigenous parents etc.):
|
General public survey plus
oversamples
|
|
Target group
|
Actual
Unweighted
|
Actual
Weighted*
|
|
Adults
26 and over
|
1,548
|
1,771
|
|
Youth
and young adults
|
636
|
413
|
|
Youth/young
adult age breakdown
|
|
16-19 years old
|
313
|
177
|
|
20-25 years old
|
323
|
236
|
|
Adults
26 and over breakdown
|
|
Parents
of children aged 13-19 years old
|
836
|
784
|
|
Non-parents
|
712
|
987
|
|
Indigenous
Canadians including youth
|
244
|
109
|
|
Non-Indigenous
Canadians including youth
|
1,940
|
2,075
|
|
Total respondents
|
2,184
|
2,184
|
|
Atlantic Canada
|
163
|
159
|
|
Quebec
|
510
|
515
|
|
Ontario
|
825
|
835
|
|
Prairies
|
374
|
370
|
|
BC
|
293
|
294
|
|
Territories
|
19
|
11
|
*Results are weighted by gender and age to 2021 Census data.
As an online panel survey is a non-probability
sample, no margin of sampling error is reported. More information about the methodology for
this survey is included in Appendix A.
The cost of this research was $262,397.30 (HST
included), including a qualitative research phase that is published under
separate cover.
Results from the quantitative tracking survey
tests will help evaluate the effectiveness of the current marketing and
advertising campaign. The POR research will enable the Department to obtain
tracking measurement of Canadians knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours with
respect to HT in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign strategy.
Results from the qualitative exploratory focus groups will inform campaign
messaging and help shape specific resources and tactics developed specifically
for Indigenous audiences.
5.
Key findings
In this wave
of the research, Canadians as a whole continue to take human trafficking
seriously, and young Canadians show some evidence of reduced complacency about
the potential risk. Close to half of young people are now at least somewhat
concerned that they themselves could become a victim of human trafficking, up
from one-third in 2020. However, it is still thought to largely be a big city
problem, and awareness of specific resources remains generally low. The key findings
of this research can be summarized as follows:
Safety and human trafficking in
context/general awareness
Approximately eight in ten Canadians think each of
the presented list of eight safety issues impacting younger people is at least
somewhat serious. As in 2020, they are most likely to say child sexual
exploitation/harassment online is extremely serious, followed by human
trafficking, guns and gangs, cyberbullying, and illegal drug use. Slightly over
half say this about hate crimes. As in 2020, fewer indicate gender-based
violence and climate change as extremely impacting youth.
Ranking the same list to determine the most
serious issue, most likely to be rated as number 1 (with each being as rated #1
by one in five) are child sexual exploitation/harassment online and
cyberbullying. Around one in seven selected illegal drug use as the top threat,
and around one in ten each think this of guns and gangs, climate change, or
human trafficking. Canadians remain least likely to rate gender-based violence
or hate crimes as a top safety threat for younger Canadians.
Two-thirds of Canadians think they understand
the issue of human trafficking at least somewhat well, and eight in ten believe
they know what the term grooming means.
Canadians most commonly define human trafficking
as people being forced into the sex trade, or as the more general trading of
humans. Around two in ten each say it is considered grooming
to have people perform illegal acts against their will, or the general
exploitation of people.
Strong majorities of Canadians consider the
following to be human trafficking examples: someone being pressured into the
sex trade, someone being smuggled across borders to be exploited, someone being
forced to work against their will, or having a person s organs harvested. Half incorrectly
believe that someone being willingly smuggled across borders is considered human
trafficking.
As in 2020, a strong majority of Canadians
(eight in ten) continue to agree that human trafficking is a growing problem in
Canada. Majorities disagree that youth in Canada are generally safe
online from human trafficking (three-quarters), that human trafficking mostly
happens in other countries (six in ten), and that forced labour crimes are very
rare in Canada (just under six in ten). However, somewhat fewer than in 2020
agree that they would be taken very seriously by authorities if they reported a
case of human trafficking (seven in ten, down from three‑quarters in 2020).
Perceptions of risk
and prevalence
Eight in ten Canadians say human trafficking is a
somewhat serious problem, with one-third thinking it is extremely serious and
two-thirds that feel human trafficking is becoming more of a problem in Canada
than in the past. When asked to consider the impact of human trafficking closer
to home, just over four in ten Canadians do not believe it is a serious problem
in their local community; this has, however, declined seven percentage points
since 2020.
Most continue to feel fewer than half of
children, youth, and young adults are at serious risk of being victims of human
trafficking. Just over four in ten Canadians say that 20 percent or less of
children, youth, and young adults are at serious risk; while another three in
ten think a significant 20 to 40 percent of these groups are at risk.
Six in ten Canadian parents of children age up
to 19 years are now at least somewhat concerned that one of their own children could
be a victim of human trafficking (up seven percentage points from 2020) with
one-quarter being very concerned.
Just over six in ten Canadians believe human
trafficking of young people either happens occasionally and affects a minority
of young people, or that it is quite rare (modestly down from 2020). Just under
four in ten now think that human trafficking is either pretty common and
affects a lot of young people or is everywhere and impacts almost all.
Canadians continue to identify runaway youth,
young women and girls, and low-income youth as the most likely potential
victims of human trafficking. Other groups considered at risk include youth
with mental health issues and Indigenous youth.
The most likely human trafficking perpetrators
are generally thought to be organized criminals or strangers, including
anonymous people online. Canadians remain notably less inclined to identify
people who would be known to the victims, such as current or former intimate
partners.
Of a provided list of options, Canadians remain
most likely to think human trafficking is a big city crime (over seven in
ten). Just over one-third believe it is likely taking place in towns along the
U.S. border, one‑third think it occurs mainly in coastal communities, and
one in three think is it happening in rural areas.
Consistent with Canadians perceiving human
trafficking as a big city problem, they are most likely to indicate it happens
in more populous provinces, namely Ontario, British Columbia and, to a far
lesser extent, Quebec.
Canadians continue to associate human
trafficking with such businesses or sectors as massage parlors, domestic service,
and hospitality.
Perceptions of
Safety and Recognition of Warning Signs
The vast majority of youth (eight in ten or more)
feel somewhat or very safe at home, work, school, or when walking in their own
neighbourhood. As in 2020, notable proportions only feel somewhat safe as
opposed to very safe and youth are less likely in 2023 to feel very safe
in all of these locations.
Unchanged from 2020, eight in ten young people
would be at least somewhat comfortable talking with their parents or another
older adult about sensitive or personal safety issues; four in ten are very
comfortable with this.
Just under nine in ten
Canadian youth would usually or always inform a friend or family member if they
were going to meet someone in person who they d met online; over half would
always do this.
Close to half of young
people are somewhat concerned that they themselves could be a victim of human
trafficking (up from one-third in 2020), while just over half are not very or not
at all concerned, with two in ten (down from one-third from 2022) being
completely unconcerned.
Of seven listed possible warning signs of human
trafficking, Canadians remain most likely to be suspicious if someone did not
have control over important documents, had excess cash, had more than one cell
phone, or if someone is deceived about the nature of
their job, its location or employer.
Awareness of human trafficking ad campaigns, organizations and how
to respond
Under one in ten Canadians are able to name any
organization in Canada that they feel is engaged in addressing and raising
awareness of human trafficking; over nine in ten cannot name any.
One-quarter of Canadians recall having heard or
seen an advertisement or public service announcement about human trafficking in
the past year (down from three in ten in 2020); three-quarters do not recall
having seen anything. Those who recalled having seen something mainly have
vague recollections of who sponsored the communication they saw.
Nine in ten Canadians are not aware of any help
lines or websites specifically to support people facing the prospect of being
pressured into human trafficking. Among the one in ten who provided a response,
Canadians would most likely turn to calling 911 or the police.
In the event they became suspicious that a human
trafficking crime was happening around them, the most likely action, by far,
would be to contact the local police. Three in ten would contact the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline (a new option in 2023), and a
similar number would talk to a friend or trusted family
member.
When prompted, ten percent of Canadians are
aware of the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline that provides support to
victims, provides general information on human trafficking, and helps
facilitate the reporting of incidences of human trafficking up four percentage
points from 2020.
Canadians were presented with a new question and
brief description of Bill S‑211. When asked if they have heard anything
about the new labour supply chain legislation, one in ten say they have. When
asked how important it is that businesses take measures to reduce the risk of
forced or child labour in their global supply chains, almost all say this is at
least somewhat important; over two-thirds say it is very important.
Political neutrality statement and contact
information
I hereby certify
as senior officer of Environics that the deliverables fully comply with the
Government of Canada political neutrality requirements outlined in the
Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, and Procedures for Planning
and Contracting Public Opinion Research. Specifically, the deliverables do not
include information on electoral voting intentions, political party
preferences, standings with the electorate, or ratings of the performance of a
political party or its leaders.
Derek Leebosh
Vice
President, Public Affairs
Environics
Research Group
derek.leebosh@environics.ca
(416) 820-1963
Supplier
name: Environics Research Group
PWGSC contract number: D160-04-1864
Original contract date: 2023-08-14
For more information, contact ps.communications-communications.sp@canada.ca
