When he was 22 years old, he moved from Japan to Toronto to study English, but he says he wound up in rural Nova Scotia working excessive hours at a campground for a total of $300 for nearly a year’s work.

“It’s really, really sad. And I was crying sometimes because I don’t know who I can trust,” the man, now 24, said in an interview.

CBC News is not revealing the man’s name or showing his face to protect his privacy.

The RCMP say he is a victim of labour trafficking, a form of human trafficking that they say is of growing concern across Canada. Labour trafficking calls to the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline held steady for an average of 24 cases a year from 2020 to 2022, jumping to 57 calls in 2023, and 100 in 2024, according to a report produced by the Canadian Association to End Human Trafficking.

Police and experts agree the number of cases is likely much higher than the data suggests, because labour trafficking is a significantly underreported crime.

In relation to the latest case, Nova Scotia RCMP have charged Trevor Annon, 65, of southern Ontario with trafficking in persons, receiving financial or material benefit, false pretense and extortion. He’s also facing a fraud charge in relation to another victim.