Interdepartmental Working Group on Trafficking in Persons

The Interdepartmental Working Group on Trafficking in Persons (IWG-TIP) was the body responsible for the development of public policy related to human trafficking in Canada[1] until the organization was replaced by the Human Trafficking Taskforce in June 2012.[2] The IWG-TIP was established in 1999 and was co-chaired by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development and the Department of Justice.[3] Seventeen agencies and departments of the Government of Canada participated in the working group.[4] The group produced a pamphlet in 14 languages with the intention of educating at-risk women about how they might avoid being trafficked.[5] This pamphlet was distributed internationally.[6] The IWG-TIP promoted the idea that victims of human trafficking should be primarily served by community organizations.[7] In 2004, the IWG-TIP was mandated to create a national anti-human-trafficking plan, and both politicians and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) proceeded to remind the IWG-TIP of this unfulfilled mandate for the following eight years.[8] The IWG-TIP continued to promise to establish such a plan throughout these years.[9] On March 31, 2004, the IWG-TIP website was updated to state that it was having a meeting with academics and NGOs "to discuss various elements of a potential federal anti-trafficking strategy," but no more updates were made to the website over the following four years.[10]