OTTAWA — At least 600 foreign women and girls are coerced into joining the Canadian sex trade each year by human traffickers, says a newly declassified RCMP report.

As many as 2,200 other newcomers are smuggled into the United States from Canada to toil in brothels, sweatshops, domestic jobs or construction work, estimates the intelligence assessment obtained by The Canadian Press.

And the RCMP says the numbers may represent just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, as it is widely believed only one in 10 victims of trafficking report the crime to police.

A public furor recently prompted the federal government to halt a visa program intended to help Canadian strip clubs hire foreign women.

The RCMP report highlights an ugly phenomenon in which traffickers use deception or force to exploit the vulnerable people they bring to Canada, making them work in slave-like conditions in the sex business and other trades.

Anywhere from 700,000 to four million people are trafficked globally each year, though it is difficult to tell "how much of this activity is occurring in Canada," the assessment says.

"The failure by law enforcement to recognize and identify this type of crime creates significant problems in terms of investigation and information gathering."

The report, marked Canadian Eyes Only, is the result of Project Surrender, a groundbreaking effort by the RCMP's criminal intelligence directorate to document the extent of human trafficking to Canada.

A censored version of the assessment, completed last January, was obtained under the Access to Information Act.

In compiling the report, analysts sifted through data from the RCMP immigration and passport sections, the Immigration Department and municipal police forces, as well as criminal data banks, international studies and media reports.

Most of the illicit activity occurred in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

A "conservative estimate" indicates about 600 women and girls are introduced into the Canadian sex trade annually by traffickers, says the report.

The number of persons "easily increases" to 800 when expanded to include migrants brought into the country by criminal organizations to support illicit operations such as selling drugs or tending marijuana growing operations, and others who are forced to work off debt or pay fees to crime groups.

Women have entered Canada for the sex trade under a variety of circumstances, the report says.

"They have been tricked, forced, obligated to a debt payment schedule or, as a permanent commodity, are trafficked from city to city through Canada and the U.S.A.

"There have also been cases of Canadian girls, coerced or kidnapped, fraudulently entering the U.S.A. and forced into prostitution."

Large organizations operating in Canada, active over decades, can move 30 to 40 people into the United States each month.

Case figures indicate that between 1,500 and 2,200 people are trafficked from Canada into the U.S. annually, though the RCMP stresses the numbers may be only a fraction of the actual total.

Other case examples include:

• The smuggling of Polish nationals through Toronto and on to Chicago, many destined to work for vehicle "chop shops" for gangs dealing in stolen cars.
• Asians brought illegally to Canada's west coast who have moved to New York, Los Angeles and other American destinations to work in sweat shops or criminal networks.
• The smuggling of Hondurans to Canada to serve as drug couriers on Vancouver streets.
• Abuse of "mail-order bride" programs by East European crime groups to bring women into the country and exploit them.

The 17,000 seasonal agricultural workers from abroad who tend Canadian farms and orchards each year may also be open to exploitation, the report notes.

"Some of these workers have entered Canada illegally, making them vulnerable to inadequate pay and conditions," it says.

Trafficking in persons became an offence in Canada in June 2002, but there had been no cases brought before Canadian courts at the time of the report.

The RCMP moved this year to redirect resources into a new unit to fight human trafficking.

The Canadian Council for Refugees wants the government to protect victims of the crime.

Many of the abused and exploited are routinely treated as people who have simply broken the immigration law, says the council. As a result, they are detained and deported.

"And they often are going back to the same situation that put them in jeopardy in the first place," said Amy Casipullai, the council's vice-president.

The Mounties had no immediate comment on the intelligence report.