A spike in reports of human trafficking across New Brunswick has experts scrambling to offer advice to officials on the topic and urging the province to create its own human trafficking unit to crack down on the underground trade.
Last year, New Brunswick saw the highest number of human trafficking incidents reported to police in decades, according to Statistics Canada.
Police-reported data from 2024 shows that New Brunswick also tied with Ontario for the second-highest rate of human trafficking reports per capita across the 10 provinces.
There were 17 incidents reported to police in New Brunswick, the report said, resulting in six people charged.
That’s the highest number of incidents reported since 1998, with 2023 seeing the second-highest count at 12.
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Human trafficking incidents in N.B. on the rise
In 2024, New Brunswick saw the highest number of human trafficking incidents and charges in decades. Experts say it’s a complicated crime, and the province must improve its response to victims who come forward.
But one researcher says those numbers may only scratch the surface.
“This is to the point where police believe they have a suspect in mind and enough to recommend or lay a charge for that person,” said Mary Ann Campbell, director of the University of New Brunswick’s Centre for Criminal Justice Studies and Policing Research.
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