Bill C-49: An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Trafficking in Persons)
“Section 118 prohibits bringing anyone into Canada by means of abduction, fraud, deception, or use or threat of force or coercion.”
Coming into force on 25 November 2005, Bill C-49 amends the Criminal Code(1) to specifically prohibit trafficking in persons in Canada. It is part of the government’s commitment to the protection of vulnerable persons and ongoing strategy to combat human trafficking.
Previously, the Criminal Code contained no provisions to specifically prohibit trafficking in persons, although a number of offences – including kidnapping, uttering threats, and extortion – played a role in targeting this crime. In 2002, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act(2) brought Canada’s first anti-trafficking legislation into force. Section 118 prohibits bringing anyone into Canada by means of abduction, fraud, deception, or use or threat of force or coercion.
Bill C-49 adds to this legislation by going beyond the focus on immigration and making trafficking in persons a criminal offence. The bill contains three prohibitions. The first contains the global prohibition on trafficking in persons, defined as the recruitment, transport, transfer, receipt, concealment or harbouring of a person, or the exercise of control, direction or influence over the movements of a person, for the purpose of exploitation. The second prohibits a person from benefiting economically from trafficking. The third prohibits the withholding or destroying of identity, immigration, or travel documents to facilitate trafficking in persons.
Bill C-49 also ensures that trafficking may form the basis of a warrant to intercept private communications and to take bodily samples for DNA analysis, and permits inclusion of the offender in the sex offender registry. Finally, Bill C-49 expands the ability to seek restitution to victims who are subjected to bodily or psychological harm.
