Protecting Children Across Canada
Today, Ally is working alongside partners across Canada, with active collaboration and engagement in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.
Reach every child with protection before exploitation begins.
Child sex trafficking and sexual exploitation is happening in Canadian communities, across urban, rural, and remote areas. Children across the country face risk shaped by online sexual exploitation, poverty, systemic inequality, and gaps in the systems meant to protect them. In this context, we are referring specifically to the sex trafficking and sexual exploitation of children. A child cannot consent.
At Ally, our mission in Canada is clear:
We work across Canada to strengthen prevention, collaboration, and awareness while building deeper partnerships in regions where we are actively engaged. Our approach is grounded in partnership. Many organizations across Canada are already doing essential work to support children and survivors. Ally works alongside these partners to strengthen collaboration, share knowledge, and help build stronger protection systems.
We work alongside Indigenous leaders, frontline professionals, community organizations, and policymakers to strengthen the systems that keep children safe. We do not replace government systems or community leadership. We strengthen the partners and systems that already protect children.
This is directional, not quota-based, and depends on partner-led delivery, safeguarding integrity, and systems readiness. Not through one organization or one program, but by strengthening the partners and systems closest to children across the country.
Our vision for Canada is to reach 10 million children with prevention and protection.
5-Phase Model
Expanding a Proven Framework
Ally’s prevention work in Canada is anchored in Makwa Dodem, which has built and refined a partnership methodology through deep community work across western Canada. As Ally’s work grows, we are applying the same disciplined approach to additional child-serving environments, including education, so prevention can expand responsibly without losing integrity. Makwa Dodem partners through a five-phase approach guided by community pace and protocol.
This model ensures prevention is not a one-time training. It is strengthened through trust, ownership, and long-term support:
We begin by building trust through presence and relationship.
Relationship:
We equip safe adults and frontline professionals with prevention knowledge and practical tools.
Training:
We support locally led planning and action so prevention becomes rooted in community systems.
Implementation:
We engage caregivers, safe adults, and service providers to understand local realities, strengths, and needs.
Listening:
We stay connected through ongoing support, shared learning, and sustained partnership over time.
Long-Term Support:
1
4
2
3
5
How Protection
Becomes Stronger
Together, these pillars reduce vulnerability to child sexual exploitation, strengthen responses when children are harmed, and support long-term protection and recovery.
Child sexual exploitation rarely begins with a single moment. It grows where vulnerability, isolation, and gaps in protection intersect. Protection becomes stronger when communities can recognize risk early, respond effectively when harm occurs, and ensure children have the support they need to move toward safe and stable lives.
In Canada, Ally’s work follows three commitments that guide our work around the world: Prevent. Provide. Prepare.
Research and
Learning
Our goal is to contribute to a Canada where child protection is informed, coordinated, and continually improving.
Protecting children requires more than good intentions. It requires evidence, shared learning, and the discipline to adapt as exploitation evolves. Our systems and policy work is non-partisan, non-ideological, and focused exclusively on protecting minors.
In Canada, Ally invests in research and applied learning to strengthen prevention, improve frontline readiness, and support systems-level alignment across sectors that protect children.
• identifying gaps and emerging risks affecting children
• translating evidence and frontline insight into practical tools and training
• supporting ethical, partner-informed approaches to learning and information-sharing
• sharing prevention methodologies so other organizations can replicate what works
• creating spaces of knowledge exchange
This includes:
Across Canada, Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people face disproportionate levels of trafficking and exploitation. This reality is connected to the lasting impacts of colonial violence, systemic inequality, and gaps in protection that continue to affect Indigenous communities today. Addressing this reality requires leadership from Indigenous communities themselves.
Makwa Dodem is an Indigenous-led initiative that brings culture, knowledge, and community leadership to preventing sexual exploitation and trafficking affecting Indigenous children, families, and communities.
• strengthening prevention training for schools and educators
• developing sector-specific resources that support
early identification and safe response
• building collaborative networks across provinces
• ensuring prevention is accessible regardless of location
Makwa
Dodem
• strengthen awareness and prevention knowledge
• share culturally grounded approaches and resources
• support community-driven responses guided by local leadership and protocol
Ally works in partnership with Indigenous leaders to support Makwa Dodem while respecting Indigenous autonomy, knowledge systems, and decision-making.
The program partners with Indigenous communities and organizations to:
Over time, this approach will support Ally’s broader Canadian strategy by:
2025 Makwa Dodem 5 Year Strategy
Learn more about Makwa Dodem
Resources
Development
These resources are built to be practical, clear, and accessible, including in communities where services are limited by distance or capacity.
Prevention cannot be limited to professionals alone. Children are safest when caregivers and communities understand risk and what protection looks like.
Ally develops and shares resources designed to support:
• caregivers and trusted adults
• educators and school communities
• child-serving organizations
• community leaders
Contact for Resources
Professional
Training
Frontline professionals are often the first to notice when something is changing for a child. Ally provides training that equips organizations to recognize risk earlier, respond appropriately, and strengthen coordination between services that protect children.
Training may include:
• indicators of child sexual exploitation and trafficking
• trauma-informed response and safe engagement practices
• what to do when a child discloses harm
• strengthening referral pathways and cross-sector collaboration
• prevention strategies that reduce vulnerability before harm occurs
Request Training
Collaboration
No single organization can protect every child. A stronger response requires collaboration across regions and sectors.
The goal is to remove silos. The goal is to strengthen collaboration, reduce duplication, and help protection become more coordinated and durable.
• Indigenous-led initiatives and organizations
• victim services and child protection partners
• education and healthcare systems
• community organizations and advocates
• policy and public safety stakeholders
Ally supports shared learning and coordination across Canada by strengthening relationships between:
Caring for
the Carer
Protecting children and responding to exploitation carries a real emotional load.
Alongside our partners at Human Nature, Ally is developing Caring for the Carer, an initiative designed to support frontline professionals and community leaders with tools that address burnout, vicarious trauma, and sustainability in child protection work.
Because protecting children requires caring for those who protect them.
Research and Learning
This includes:
Protecting children requires more than good intentions. It requires evidence, shared learning, and the discipline to adapt as exploitation evolves. Our systems and policy work is non-partisan, non-ideological, and focused exclusively on protecting minors.
In Canada, Ally invests in research and applied learning to strengthen prevention, improve frontline readiness, and support systems-level alignment across sectors that protect children.
Our goal is to contribute to a Canada where child protection is informed, coordinated, and continually improving.
• identifying gaps and emerging risks affecting children
• translating evidence and frontline insight into practical tools and training
• supporting ethical, partner-informed approaches to learning and information-sharing
• sharing prevention methodologies so other organizations can replicate what works
• creating spaces of knowledge exchange
Makwa Dodem
• strengthening prevention training for schools and educators
• developing sector-specific resources that support early identification and safe response
• building collaborative networks across provinces
• ensuring prevention is accessible regardless of location
Across Canada, Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people face disproportionate levels of trafficking and exploitation. This reality is connected to the lasting impacts of colonial violence, systemic inequality, and gaps in protection that continue to affect Indigenous communities today. Addressing this reality requires leadership from Indigenous communities themselves.
Makwa Dodem is an Indigenous-led initiative that brings culture, knowledge, and community leadership to preventing sexual exploitation and trafficking affecting Indigenous children, families, and communities.
Over time, this approach will support Ally’s broader Canadian strategy by:
• strengthen awareness and prevention knowledge
• share culturally grounded approaches and resources
• support community-driven responses guided by local leadership and protocol
Ally works in partnership with Indigenous leaders to support Makwa Dodem while respecting Indigenous autonomy, knowledge systems, and decision-making.
The program partners with Indigenous communities and organizations to:
2025 Makwa Dodem 5 Year Strategy
Learn more about Makwa Dodem
Ally develops and shares resources designed to support:
Prevention cannot be limited to professionals alone. Children are safest when caregivers and communities understand risk and what protection looks like.
These resources are built to be practical, clear, and accessible, including in communities where services are limited by distance or capacity.
Resources Development
• caregivers and trusted adults
• educators and school communities
• child-serving organizations
• community leaders
Contact for Resources
Professional Training
Frontline professionals are often the first to notice when something is changing for a child. Ally provides training that equips organizations to recognize risk earlier, respond appropriately, and strengthen coordination between services that protect children.
Training may include:
• indicators of child sexual exploitation and trafficking
• trauma-informed response and safe engagement practices
• what to do when a child discloses harm
• strengthening referral pathways and cross-sector collaboration
• prevention strategies that reduce vulnerability before harm occurs
Request Training
No single organization can protect every child. A stronger response requires collaboration across regions and sectors.
Collaboration
Ally supports shared learning and coordination across Canada by strengthening relationships between:
The goal is to remove silos. The goal is to strengthen collaboration, reduce duplication, and help protection become more coordinated and durable.
• Indigenous-led initiatives and organizations
• victim services and child protection partners
• education and healthcare systems
• community organizations and advocates
• policy and public safety stakeholders
Because protecting children requires caring for those who protect them.
Caring for the Carer
Protecting children and responding to exploitation carries a real emotional load.
Ally is developing an initiative designed to support frontline professionals and community leaders with tools that address burnout, vicarious trauma, and sustainability in child protection work.
Need Help Now
If you or someone you know may be experiencing sexual exploitation or trafficking, support is available.
Ally works alongside organizations across Canada that provide direct services to children and survivors. This page can connect you to trusted resources and local supports, where available and approved.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911 emergency services.
For support call the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-833-900-1010.
Standing with the Calls for Justice
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls calls on all Canadians to take responsibility for confronting violence against Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people, and to support Indigenous communities in creating their own solutions for safety and protection.
Protecting children requires listening, learning, and standing alongside Indigenous communities with respect and partnership.
Methodologies/Sources
Trauma Informed Practice Principles (BCMHSUS, 2026) are:
Safety
Peer Support
Trustworthiness and Transparency
Collaboration and Mutuality
Empowerment, Voice and Choice
We focus on the rights of every child to freedom and protection. Human Rights are inalienable, indivisible, and interdependent.
Our work aligns with community and evidence-based best practices in both anti-trafficking and children’s services. Ally brings Trauma-Informed Practice Principles to a Human Rights Approach.
Responsible Growth
Growth will never outpace relationship, readiness, or safeguards.
As Makwa Dodem’s strategy outlines, expansion is paced by capacity and funding, with a clear commitment to do this work well and sustainably.
Childhood is priceless.
You can help keep it that way.