Ontario is investing $2.4-million in a new policy framework for schools to protect children from sex traffickers.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said it would build on the updated Health and Physical Education curriculum released in 2019 for grades one to eight.
All school boards will have to have a plan and anti-human trafficking protocols in place by January 2022.
The "Keeping Students Safe - Policy Framework for School Board Anti-Sex Trafficking Protocols" will ensure school boards and educators have the tools to recognize what sex trafficking is, identify students at risk, and respond to prevent it. Each school board will be encouraged to establish protocols tailored to their region, and the framework will establish guidelines for evaluation and accountability.
Jennifer Dunn with the London Abused Women's Centre said these are welcome changes to the Ontario curriculum that will hopefully save a life one day.
"Young children, who may not be educated on it, they could easily be lured into or become a trafficking victim, so I do really think it will make a difference," said Dunn. "Especially when you look at the average age of recruitment, you're looking at kids who are not even teens yet so having the information there will be unbelievably beneficial for those children."
The Ontario government points out the average age of recruitment into sex trafficking is 13-years-old, and the province is a hub for human trafficking.
Under the curriculum announced two years ago, students learn skills to protect themselves against sexual exploitation while online resources for teachers focus on prevention.
Last December, the legislature passed a motion urging the government to mandate school boards work with police and others to develop and adopt a protocol for each jurisdiction.
Some school boards are already providing training and support, but the only one in Ontario that has a protocol currently in place is the York Region District School Board.