Police officers from across Canada are meeting in Edmonton this week to end what some call the modern-day slave trade.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Gordon Sage said human trafficking is a growing problem in Canada but specifically in Alberta.

"We're seeing complaints originate in different detachments across Alberta," said Sage, who specializes in policing human trafficking across northern and western Canada. "So it is a growing, challenging issue for our communities."

Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) is hosting the event, which is scheduled to run Tuesday through Thursday at the Marriott at River Cree Resort.

Human trafficking charges were laid for the first time in western Canada last September after an investigation into an alleged bawdy house in Edmonton's west end.

Police removed three women ranging in age from 21 to 41 from Edmonton's Sachi Professional Massage parlour.

The parlour was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. While the doors were locked at 11 p.m., the women were expected to answer the phone and make arrangements with clients around the clock, said detectives at the time.

The women, who lived in the parlour with limited belongings, were victims of what police at the time called modern-day slavery.

They were told they were free to leave, but if they did, their families would be told about what they were really doing in Edmonton.

Two people were charged with trafficking persons and one with living off the avails of prostitution.