Actions to Combat Online Child Sexual Exploitation

On This Page:

• National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet
• National Strategy Partners
• Federal Investments

Canada's National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet

Public Safety Canada leads the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet (National Strategy), which was created in 2004. Efforts under the National Strategy can be categorized under four broad pillars:

The National Strategy's goals are to:

• Provide coordination and oversight of federal efforts
• Support law enforcement capacity
• Enable the reporting to proper authorities
• Support victims by facilitating the removal of imagery/videos
• Facilitate research to increase understanding of the scale and scope of the issue and to inform action
• Increase public awareness and reduce stigma associated with disclosure
• Work with digital industry to find new approaches

National Strategy Partners

Public Safety Canada coordinates and oversees the implementation of the National Strategy and leads the development of policy and research on online child sexual exploitation.

National Child Exploitation Crime Centre

The RCMP's National Child Exploitation Crime Centre (NCECC) is the national law enforcement arm of the National Strategy and serves as the central point of contact for investigations related to the sexual exploitation of children online across the country and internationally, when the victim or offender is Canadian.

Justice Canada

The Department of Justice Canada reviews and develops legislation, and provides training, advice and support to federal partners and others.

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P)

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) provides public education and assists survivors and their families through advocacy, research, awareness and resources. It’s a key partner under the national strategy.

C3P also operates the national tipline for reporting suspected cases of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, and Project Arachnid, a tool that crawls the web in search of images of child sexual abuse and flags them for removal.

Federal Investments

Current funding

• The Government of Canada expanded its commitment to combatting online child sexual exploitation through Budget 2022, with an additional $41.6 million over five years and $8.9 million ongoing to Public Safety Canada. This funding builds on a Budget 2019 investment of $22.4 million over three years to support the following activities:
  • Increase prevention activities, raise awareness, and reduce the stigma associated with disclosure
  • Enhance Canada's ability to pursue and prosecute offenders
  • Expand and share knowledge on the issue and enhance collaboration among partners and stakeholders combatting this crime
• This includes $2.95 million annually to support the operation of Cybertip.ca, plus an additional $2.5 million in 2024-25 to help meet increasing demand for C3P’s services

Previous

• Budget 2017 invested $6 million over five years, and $1.3 million per year ongoing, for Public Safety Canada through the Federal Gender-Based Violence Strategy (Women and Gender Equality Canada), to enhance public awareness; improve policy coordination and research as well as support C3P's Project Arachnid, which is a tool to help identify and remove child sexual abuse material online
• In 2009, the Government announced $41 million over five years, and $8.1 million ongoing, for the renewal and expansion of the 2004 National Strategy on an ongoing basis
• In 2007, the Government announced additional funding of $6 million ongoing per year to advance efforts to combat child sexual exploitation and human trafficking. Justice Canada became an official partner of the Strategy, replacing Industry Canada, and received funding to provide training, legal advice, and support to National Strategy partners
• The National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet was announced in 2004 with funding of $42 million over five years. Funding was allocated to Public Safety Canada, the RCMP, and Industry Canada, to implement the core objectives of the National Strategy

Date modified:

2026-01-09