FAQs
Is Prostitution Legal in Canada?
The provision of sexual services in Canada is often the subject of passionate debates amongst legislators, activists, and citizens.
Misconceptions about what is and is not legal when dealing with the sex trade are common and it is difficult to answer the question of whether prostitution is legal with a simple “yes” or “no”.
In simple terms, the selling of sex in Canada is legal but various activities surrounding it are considered sexual offences, including the purchasing or advertising of sexual services and receiving material benefit from sexual services.
What is prostitution?
Prostitution is usually defined as the practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment (money or goods).
The definition of “sexual activity” varies but is generally taken to mean any activity that requires physical contact of a sexual nature.
However, prostitution is not defined in the Criminal Code. The definition of prostitution is, therefore, understood through case law.
How does the law view prostitution in Canada?
Canadian law recognizes the existence of prostitution as a service but it is seen as promoting a demand for sexual exploitation. Prostitution is viewed, therefore, as a dangerous practice that can exploit those involved—particularly women and girls.
Consequently, Canadian law aims to reduce the incidence of prostitution and, ideally, abolish it altogether, while clamping down on exploitative relationships and protecting those who sell sexual services.
Third-party profiteering from prostitution is especially denounced, with strip clubs, massage parlours, and escort agencies facing increasing legal scrutiny.
Canadian law ultimately sets out to punish those who exploit the practice of prostitution rather than the prostitutes themselves, who are essentially viewed as “victims”.
What are the criminal offences associated with prostitution in Canada?
The legislation on prostitution in Canada was amended in 2014, with the passing of Bill C-36. This effectively made the purchase of sexual services in Canada illegal.
To characterize an act as prostitution in Canada requires three elements to be met:
- The provision of sexual services
- The indiscriminate nature of the act
- Some form of payment
Even though the selling of sexual services is legal, several criminal offenses are associated with the practice of prostitution as per the Criminal Code of Canada:
Obtaining sexual services for consideration
Obtaining sexual services for consideration involves an agreement for a specific sexual service in return for payment or another kind of consideration, including drugs or alcohol.
This a hybrid offence that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison on indictment or 18 months for a summary conviction. There are also mandatory minimum fines ranging from $500 to $2,000.
If the offence is committed against a person aged under 18 years, a 10-year maximum sentence may be applied. There is a six-month mandatory minimum penalty for a first offence and one year for subsequent offences.
Material benefit from sexual services
Receiving a financial or material benefit obtained by or derived from the commission of purchasing sexual services comes with a 10-year maximum penalty.
If the offence is committed against a person aged under 18, a 14-year maximum penalty is applied, with a two-year mandatory minimum punishment.
Procuring
This offence involves procuring a person to offer or provide sexual services or recruiting/harbouring a person/exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person to facilitate a purchasing offence.
Procuring someone into prostitution will proceed as an indictable offence, which leads to a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. If the person providing the sexual services is under 18, the maximum penalty remains the same but a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years applies.
Advertising to provide sexual services for consideration
This offence does not apply to sellers of sexual services. However, publishers or website administrators can be held criminally liable if they knowingly advertise sexual services for purchase.
Erotic massage parlours, strip clubs or pimps can also be found guilty of promoting the sexual services of someone else.
The offence may be punished either summarily or by indictment. Indictable offences can lead to up to five years in jail and summary convictions up to 18 months in jail.
Communicating to provide sexual services for consideration
A special subsection of the Criminal Code refers to communicating to sell sexual services in public places that are or are next to school grounds, playgrounds or daycare centres.
“Public places” include any place to which the public has access to as a right or by invitation and any motor vehicle located in a public place or any place open to public view.
So, stopping motor vehicles or impeding pedestrian/vehicular traffic in public places to sell sexual services is an offence.
Communication offences proceed summarily and are liable for a penalty of up to two years less a day in jail and/or a $5,000 fine.
Commercial enterprises and sexual services
The purchasing offence makes commercial enterprises based on the purchase of sexual services illegal—and third parties who receive material benefits in the context of commercial enterprises are criminalized under Canadian prostitution laws.
When sentencing, judges will consider the receipt of material benefits from sexual services in a commercialized context an aggravating factor.
The procuring offence may also apply to third parties actively involved in the provision of others’ sexual services. However, the provision of sexual services cooperatively with others does not constitute a commercial enterprise if sellers retain only proceeds from the sale of their own sexual services.
Are escort services legal in Canada?
Escort services dwell in a “legal grey area” and the application of the laws differs across the provinces and municipalities. The act of selling companionship is not explicitly prohibited under Canadian law but offering sexual services can expose an escort agency to prostitution legislation.
Specifically, the legislation that prohibits exploitative practices associated with prostitution— advertising, material benefit, and procuring—exposes escort agencies to harsh criminal penalties.
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