Ontario government introduces new act to protect communities, victims

The Ontario government introduced new legislation Thursday morning introducing measures to protect families and support victims of human trafficking.

The Protect Ontario Through Safer Streets and Stronger Communities Act is a collection of bills to strengthen other laws and acts.

The legislative bundle aims to protect children against sex trafficking by strengthening Christopher’s Law to include child sex traffickers on the Ontario Sex Offender Registry.

The proposed legislation would also amend the Family Law Act and the Children’s Law Reform Act to make restraining orders against abusers more accessible to increase tools to address intimate partner violence.

The act plans for Ontario to bring into force the Accommodation Sector Registration of Guests Act – brought forth in 2021 – on Jan. 1, 2026.

This act would force hotels to create and maintain a guest register, and make it easier for police to obtain these records if there are reasonable grounds to suspect human trafficking.

The Ontario government also said that it would begin getting consultations to support the implementation of the Protection from Coerced Debts Incurred in relation to Human Trafficking Act (2023).

The province is also renewing its anti-human trafficking strategy set for implementation from 2025 to 2030 with an investment of $345 million over that schedule.

READ MORE: Doug Ford floats idea of electing judges in rant on bail reform