Edmonton International Airport (YEG) is the first airport in the country to sign on to a new initiative to help stop Human Trafficking.
Led by Action Coalition on Human Trafficking (ACT), newcomers to Canada will received materials about their rights in Alberta, through QR code stickers with materials that are translated into English, French, Spanish, Punjabi, Chinese and Tagalog. They will be installed in washrooms at YEG and provided to all YEG transportation partners.
YEG is always looking for progressive and innovative ways to increase safety measures for every single person who comes through our airport. As the prevalence of human trafficking in our communities grows, we know that as an international airport, we have an important and unique opportunity to help prevent it,” said Steve Maybee, Vice President Infrastructure, Facilities and Airside Operations, Edmonton International Airport.
Since 2021, YEG has partnered with ACT Alberta to provide industry-specific human trafficking awareness training to RCMP, CBSA, Security and leadership staff at the airport. As a continued response to the successful and widely attended "Human Trafficking Airport Training" hosted by YEG, ACT Alberta and YEG are expanding this collaborative learning for new airport staff at all points of contact, as well as annual refresh learnings. To date, almost 2,000 airport workers have gone through the training program.
The expansion of this program includes the rollout of ACT Alberta's newly translated materials, including Temporary Foreign Workers Rights in Alberta, What is Human Trafficking, Have you been Labour Trafficked and Have you been Sex Trafficked.
"We consistently hear from survivors that language is one of the biggest barriers in understanding their rights and knowing if their situation is ok or if there is something off,” said Kate Price, Executive Director of ACT Alberta. “This partnership with YEG is a monumental step towards allowing individuals access to their rights in Alberta in their own language. Our hopes are that by knowing these rights from the onset, the signs of a trafficking situation will be clearer to potential victims."
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