Attorney general invests $400,000 to support victims of sex trafficking and child abuse in York Region
Proceeds of crime funding going to BridgeNorth and Cedar Centre.
Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey has announced up to $400,000 to help young survivors of sex trafficking and child abuse in York Region.
He was at the Region of York’s headquarters in Newmarket June 19 to award as much as $200,000 each to BridgeNorth and the Cedar Centre.
“The work that both BridgeNorth and the Cedar Centre are doing is really remarkable,” he said.
Proceeds of crime fund
The funding comes from the 2026-2028 Civil Remedies Grant, funded by the proceeds of crime.
Attorney General Doug Downey announces funding for BridgeNorth and the Cedar Centre at a press conference at York Region’s headquarters on June 19.
“One basic point is that crime should not pay and we’re making sure it does not,” said Downey, adding the government is allocating $5 million through the fund to help 27 law enforcement agencies and community and Indigenous organizations fight crime and strengthen public safety across the province.
BridgeNorth is a survivor-led organization committed to ending sexual exploitation in Canada.
‘Sex trafficking happening in York Region’
“BridgeNorth exists because, sadly, sex trafficking is happening right here in York Region,” executive director Karen Todd, said.
“We help youth experience freedom from sex trafficking through advocacy, education and awareness and direct services … Youth often don’t recognize that what they’re experiencing is exploitation and don’t always identify themselves as victims.”
The Cedar Centre provides trauma-specific therapy to youngsters and youth who have experienced childhood violence, as well as adults who experienced violence as children.
The funding for BridgeNorth will expand the organization’s LifeEdge Intervention Program, which provides services to youth aged 12 to 19 who have experienced sex trafficking or sexual exploitation.
The funding will allow BridgeNorth to serve four to six youths, depending on how long it takes each of them to achieve their specific goals, Todd said.
The funding for the Cedar Centre will support staffing as the organization works to develop York Region’s first child and youth advocacy centre.
Future centre will help child abuse victims
Once built, the centre will bring multidisciplinary teams under one roof to reduce the trauma abused children and youth and their non-offending guardians now endure having to retell their experiences to different professionals in various locations.
Cradling a bravery bear, given by the Cedar Centre to young abuse and violence victims, which she later gave to Downey, Cedar Centre executive director Alison Peck called the funding a transformative moment for the organization.
As the first program of its kind in York Region, Cedar Centre’s Child/Youth Advocacy Program will ensure that children and youth who are victims of crime receive the specialized support they deserve, she said.
“Our child/youth advocate program is the first pillar of York Region’s emerging child/youth advocacy centre, Project Hope. And it represents our first brave step together,” Peck said.
“In York Region, on the days when children and youth face their most challenging moments, this is about them being brave. This is about us being brave with them. And this is about you (Downey) being brave enough to believe in all of us. So, this bear is for you.”
BridgeNorth and the Cedar Centre support some of the most vulnerable members of the community, Newmarket-Aurora MPP Dawn Gallagher Murphy said.
Newmarket-Aurora MPP Dawn Gallagher Murphy said the funding will help survivors heal and strengthen community safety across York Region.
“The work that they do is not always easy at all. It required patience, it requires expertise. It requires great compassion and an unwavering commitment to helping children, youth and families through some of the most difficult challenges in their lives,” she said.
The funding will help ensure that children, youth and families affected by violence, exploitation, and trauma have access to the specialized care and support they need close to home, Gallagher Murphy said.
“Every young person deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential,” she said.
The government is investing in services that not only help survivors heal but also strengthen community safety across York Region, she added.
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