# Incidents & Forced Labour Identification

The criminal-law definition of exploitation, the indicator frameworks used in practice, and the escalation logic that should inform incident handling.

## Criminal Code Trafficking and the Legal Meaning of Exploitation

Sections 279.01 and 279.04 of the Criminal Code define trafficking and exploitation in terms that matter directly when incident reports raise coercion, threats, deception, or abuse of power.

The Criminal Code gives the clearest Canadian statutory definition of trafficking-related exploitation. Section 279.01 criminalizes recruiting, transporting, receiving, harbouring, or controlling a person for the purpose of exploiting them. Section 279.04 explains that exploitation exists where a person is caused to provide labour or a service through conduct that could reasonably be expected to make them believe their safety or the safety of someone known to them would be threatened if they refused.

R. v. A.A. is frequently cited because it confirms that the exploitation inquiry is objective and does not require proof of overt physical violence in every case. The question is whether the conduct could reasonably be expected to create the required fear. That matters for incident triage because coercive labour situations often present first as intimidation, dependency, debt, or threats rather than as immediately visible physical assault.

R. v. Moazami is useful in practice because the facts illustrate common control mechanisms: document retention, coercion, debt, and threats. When compliance teams receive site-level allegations involving those features, they should not treat them as generic labour grievances. The legal definition of exploitation makes those features relevant to a much more serious forced-labour analysis and supports rapid escalation, evidence preservation, and senior review.

### Citations

- Criminal Code, s 279.01: Criminal Code, s 279.01 (trafficking in persons) (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-279.01.html)
- Criminal Code, s 279.04: Criminal Code, s 279.04 (exploitation) (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-279.04.html)
- 2015 ONCA 558: R. v. A.A., 2015 ONCA 558 (https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/2015/2015onca558/2015onca558.html)
- 2014 BCSC 261: R. v. Moazami, 2014 BCSC 261 (https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2014/2014bcsc261/2014bcsc261.html)

## ILO Indicators and Why They Matter in Canadian Incident Work

The ILO indicators are not a substitute for legal judgment, but Canadian reporting and border-control materials make them highly practical for identifying and escalating forced-labour risk.

The ILO indicators of forced labour are practical warning signs rather than a Canadian statutory test. They include coercion, deception, abuse of vulnerability, retention of identity documents, debt bondage, withholding of wages, abusive living or working conditions, and restrictions on movement. As an incident-management tool, they help teams move from vague concern to a structured description of what has been observed or alleged.

Canadian official materials reinforce their operational value. CBSA Memorandum D9-1-6 explains that importers are responsible for conducting due diligence so that goods imported into Canada are not mined, manufactured, or produced wholly or in part by forced labour. Public Safety Canada's 2025 annual report to Parliament also shows that reporting organizations are increasingly framing risk in terms of raw materials, locations, sectors, and supplier tiers. That is compatible with using indicator-based incident tagging at the evidence level.

The practical lesson is that incident systems should capture both the allegation and the indicator pattern. A single allegation may not prove forced labour, but a cluster of indicators across one supplier, facility, recruiter, commodity, or geography can materially change the legal and disclosure posture. The indicators therefore belong in the intake and escalation workflow, not only in training slides.

### Citations

- ILO Indicators 2025: ILO, Indicators of Forced Labour (2025 revised edition) (https://researchrepository.ilo.org/esploro/outputs/encyclopediaEntry/ILO-indicators-of-forced-labour/995680797902676)
- CBSA D9-1-6: CBSA Memorandum D9-1-6, Goods manufactured or produced by prison or forced labour (https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d9/d9-1-6-eng.html)
- 2025 Parliament Report: Public Safety Canada, 2025 Annual Report to Parliament on the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act (https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2025-frcd-lbr-chld-lbr-spply-chns-ct-scnd-rprt/index-en.aspx)