Doing our part to combat human trafficking

Today, Feb. 22 is nationally recognized as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, and The Calgary Airport Authority is a proud ally of addressing the issue in aviation—and especially in our airport.

We encourage all members of Team YYC to take the FREE 30-minute Human Trafficking in Aviation course, so together we can all contribute to the effort to end human trafficking.

This course aims to build awareness of the behaviours and activities often associated with human trafficking and sexual exploitation. It offers insight into actions that airport personnel can take when they suspect that these activities are occurring. We highly encourage YYC Crew to sign up for the online training, especially those in critically operational roles. 

Canada’s aviation industry is vital to the country’s economy, supporting business and tourism in and outside of the country. The aviation industry is also ideally positioned to assist the effort to defeat trafficking through awareness and education.

Air transport is frequently used as a method of transport by traffickers, making airlines and airports ideally positioned to assist the effort to defeat human trafficking by training staff, partners, and raising public awareness. Traffickers use airlines, airports, and airport services like buses, ride-hailing, and taxis to move victims across the country. Law enforcement and community agencies have been tracking the movement of victims for many years and traffickers frequently move their victims without interference or undue attention. Major sporting events and tourist attractions are targeted by traffickers to traffic their victims. However, trafficking is happening every day, in communities across the country and the majority of victims are Canadian citizens or call Canada their home.

Airlines and airport staff often represent the last line of detection and defence against human trafficking. Once victims get off an airplane they tend to disappear from society and become extraordinarily difficult to trace and rescue. These factors make it more likely that individuals in our industry might come into contact with victims of human trafficking, and through awareness might be able to identify and assist these victims.

Did you know? Law enforcement has been able to intervene in suspected human trafficking at YYC on numerous occasions, thanks to increased awareness among the airport community. By empowering and reminding employees to see something and say something, we hope we're doing our part in eliminating human trafficking.