Ontario Among Top Provinces for Both Disappearances and Sex Ads Featuring Indigenous Women

THUNDER BAY – MMIWG – A new report from Thomson Reuters is shining a devastating light on the intersection between the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) and human trafficking in Canada.

Using advanced geospatial analysis, the study, “Missing and Stolen: Disappearances and Trafficking of Indigenous Peoples in Canada”, uncovers disturbing trends—particularly in urban centres like Winnipeg, Edmonton, and the Greater Toronto Area.

For Ontario and cities like Thunder Bay, the findings carry a profound urgency. Indigenous women, who make up just 5% of Canada’s population, account for over 50% of trafficking victims.

With Ontario responsible for 17% of MMIW cases and 57% of sex ads referencing Indigenous women, the province emerges as a central—and dangerous—node in Canada’s trafficking network.

Disappearance to Exploitation: A Rapid Pipeline

The report documents 185 confirmed MMIW cases across Canada between 2010 and April 2024. Two-thirds of these women remain missing. While not every disappearance is linked to human trafficking, the overlap is striking: one Ontario case saw a woman missing for just days before her likeness was used in escort ads posted over 100 km away.

Sex ads themselves often contain coded or false information, but researchers found that cities like Edmonton and Ottawa serve as bridges to U.S. trafficking networks, with identical ads appearing across borders—evidence that traffickers operate through well-coordinated, international systems.

Regional Impact: Prairie Provinces and Ontario Stand Out

The majority of documented MMIW cases came from five provinces:

• Alberta: 25%

• Manitoba: 21%

• Ontario: 17%

• British Columbia: 15%

• Saskatchewan: 13%

Urban centres were disproportionately represented, with:

• Winnipeg accounting for 14% of cases,

• Edmonton for 8% (10.5% metro-wide), and

• the Prince Albert–Regina–Saskatoon triangle representing 10%.

What This Means for Thunder Bay

While Thunder Bay was not named specifically in the report, its location within Ontario—one of the top three provinces for both MMIW and trafficking indicators—demands local attention. The city has been part of national conversations around systemic violence against Indigenous women and girls, and this report only reinforces the need for enhanced local vigilance, policing resources, and community-based supports.

Given Thunder Bay’s transit connections to Winnipeg and southern Ontario, advocates have long raised concerns that the city could serve as both a passage and destination point in trafficking networks.

Action Steps and Policy Recommendations

The Thomson Reuters report concludes with urgent calls for action:

• Creation of a national Indigenous disappearance database to close the reporting gaps between police, Indigenous communities, and grassroots organizations.

• Integration of sex ad data with missing persons databases to aid faster identification of trafficking victims.

• Focused law enforcement efforts in geographic hotspots, including major urban centres in Ontario and the Prairies.

• Strengthening of U.S.-Canada collaboration, particularly as digital sex ads and trafficking networks span both sides of the border.

A Call for Vigilance and Solidarity

“Human trafficking has a tragic human cost,” said Heather C. Panton, Senior Advisor at Thomson Reuters. “The correlation between geographic hotspots and victim experiences across MMIW and the sex ad ecosystem warrants urgent exploration and coordinated response.”

The report emphasizes the critical role that technology, data sharing, and community partnership must play in disrupting the cycle of disappearance and exploitation. As Thunder Bay and other northern communities seek to better protect Indigenous women and girls, these findings underscore a painful truth—there can be no justice without confronting the full scope of violence and the systems that allow it to continue.

If you or someone you know is at risk, contact the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-833-900-1010 or email hotline@ccteht.ca.