OTTAWA — A Canadian teenager signs up for a modelling program and, unbeknownst to her parents, is forced to have sex with strangers while travelling in Europe.

A Mexican woman is smuggled into Canada illegally, and turns tricks against her will above a downtown Toronto drugstore.

The RCMP estimates that 800-1,200 people in Canada, the vast majority of them women, are victims of human trafficking each year, but non-governmental organizations peg the number in the thousands.

Conservative MP Joy Smith introduced a private member's bill in the Commons on Friday aimed at developing a national strategy to combat the trafficking of persons worldwide. As a teacher in Manitoba, Smith discovered that one of her students had effectively become a sex slave.

"The average Canadian usually associates human trafficking with countries in eastern Europe, Asia and others,'' said Smith, who has the support of Status of Women Minister Bev Oda.

"What they need to be aware of is that human trafficking is happening right here in Canada, right under the radar.''

The previous Liberal government introduced anti-trafficking legislation a year ago that gave police new tools for bringing in predators. It also formed an Interdepartmental Working Group on Trafficking in Persons (IWG) to co-ordinate and enhance federal efforts to combat trafficking in persons and develop a federal strategy.

Smith said that process is going too slowly, and action needs to be taken immediately. She described how young women and children from overseas are lured to North American with the promise of a better life.

"Their predators befriend them and tell them they'll get good jobs and education in Canada and the United States,'' said Smith, whose son is a Manitoba police officer who has seen such cases up close.

"They escort them through the border and they coach them on what to say so they won't be detected. . . . Once past the border their documents are taken, they're threatened, beaten and raped and put immediately into the sex trade.''

Smith noted that major sporting events, such as Olympic Games, are havens for human trafficking, with criminals bringing young women into the cities ahead of time to sell sex to visitors and athletes.

She said the Vancouver Winter Games in 2010 will be no different, and Canadians should be made aware of the problem.