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Article

3 Mar 2023

Author:
Shanifa Nasser, Philip Lee-Shanok and Victoria Stunt, CBC (Canada)

Canada: Massive international labour trafficking ring discovered near Toronto

"A single foreign worker blew the lid off a massive international trafficking ring north of Toronto, police say"

... police north of Toronto say they have rescued 64 Mexican migrants exploited by an international labour trafficking ring and in living conditions so deplorable that officers themselves have been left shaken....

...dozens of workers ... say [they] were lured to Canada with promises of a better future. Instead, they were given mattresses on the floor, housed with dozens in bug-infested rooms, faced threats and, in some cases, say police, sexual assault....

At 5 a.m. each morning, ... a bus would take the workers to a farm where they would pack vegetables. At the end of the week, [a worker] says he would be left just $50 in a cash envelope — after deductions for transportation and lodging....

The names of [the businesses involved] have not yet been released as the Ontario Ministry of Labour continues its investigation....