All Prostitution Illegal in Canada

[gala]

Geez. Here we go again. What are you, Americans? There is no law in Canada against sex for money. If you know of one please cite it for me. There ARE laws against sex for money involving minors; there are laws against running a brothel (bawdy house) or being in one; there are laws against pimping (living off the avails); there are laws against street walking (communicating for the purpose of). But there's no law on the books in Canada against exchanging sex for money.

People sometimes wrongly say "all the things surrounding prostitution have been made illegal" but that is simply not true. There are still a few ways in Canada to engage in prostitution without breaking any laws. Specifically you can advertise your services in a newspaper so long as you don't explicitly mention sex for money in your ad, accept phone calls from clients and book appointments so long as you don't specifically mention sex for money on the phone, and go to see them at their hotel or residence. Once the door closes behind you and you are in private you can discuss your fee for exchanging sex for money, and actually have sex for money, without breaking any laws.

Note that it is important not to "communicate" about it in any place that could be considered public, and not to use the same location for different clients. Agencies and such are in a grey area as it is legally unclear whether or not they could be charged with "living off the avails" and although they aren't currently being prosecuted for that you never know--maybe one day the police will start doing it.

However the escort's legal situation is crystal clear and if you do what I wrote above you are not committing a crime. (I am not a lawyer; I have talked to lawyers, so should you if you want a clear answer.)

 

[E_B_Samaritano]

Not so fast smart ass...

Geez. Here we go again. What are you, Americans?

And here yet another Canuck goes making some ignorant backhand reference in an attempt to demean Americans.

Since this is a Canadian board, the majority of posters who are found to be confused in this forum are CANADIAN..capiche? I find many Canadians confused about their own laws. I know I have spent a LOT of time online informing CANADIANS about their own laws...embarrassing..isn't it..LOL.

EBS

 

[gala]

EB... I just figured that since it's illegal in the US that Americans might figure it's illegal here too.

The relevant section of the Criminal Code is 212. Anyone who has any doubts about the issue is invited to read all about it here:

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-46/40863.html

and

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/c-46/41080.html

It's quite a readable document and there is nothing whatever in it that makes the exchange of sex for money a crime. Period.

 

[HaywoodJabloemy]

Most Canadians are ignorant of the legal situation, but to be fair it is a little complicated for most people who would have no reason to learn about it. They'll just assume it's all illegal like they see on US TV shows and movies.

The people on this board and especially the ones who work in the business should develop at least a basic understanding of it for their own good.

 

[DocOdd]

I feel like this is more complicated than Dave presents it as being. Laws against prostitution in the U.S. tend to be local matters, and very often they are sufficiently vague or poorly worded that quite a lot of things probably don't violate the letter of the laws. However, that does one little good if the judge interpreting the law is unsympathetic (and, for that matter, for many hobbyists, having to appear in court is already a disaster even if the case ends up being won).

Now, it is clear that there are places in Canada which are vastly superior in the sanity of law enforcement to the majority of the U.S. In Toronto, to take the only place I know a lot about, escort services are about half the price they are in the U.S., and many escorts describe the services they provide in considerable detail. If the Toronto police were as active in going after escorts as U.S. police, there would be a lot fewer women willing to work in the profession, prices would be a lot higher (due to less competition), and ads which potentially give the police so much help in who to look for would not be so common. This is not to say that Toronto police never harass anyone (I don't know if they do or not; I'd be surprised if they never did, but perhaps they really are that civilized), but certainly they're a lot less active in going after that sort of thing than any police in the U.S., outside of certain parts of Nevada.

However, again, it is more a matter of how police and judges interpret the law than how the letter of the law stands. I'd be quite surprised if there were not places in Canada where the interpretation runs more like it usually does in U.S. cities. I don't know if Edmonton is one of those places, but I must admit that I personally would take very seriously what an actual judge or lawyer in the area said about the topic, much less what one of each both agreed about.

 

[HaywoodJabloemy]

The level of enforcement varies greatly even within Toronto. See this thread from last year about 32 Division and how vigorously they enforce bawdy house law,

https://terb.cc/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=39714

and, from this article

http://www.missingpeople.net/how_cities_`license`_off-street_hookers-june_16,_2002.htm

Alan Young, a professor of criminal law at Osgoode Hall who has defended prostitutes and massage parlour owners in court, says he was even told by one judge that "we don`t conduct bawdy house trials in this jurisdiction."

 

[gala]

There's definately stuff police in conservative areas could do, but arresting you for prostitution is not one of them. They could arrest a driver, telephonist, or agency owner though, and then make you appear in the trial as a witness. The social cost of that to a customer might be nearly as bad as being charged with a crime.

However they interpret the law, though, there is no law against an outcall escort and a client exchanging money for sex. That obviously doesn't mean you are free from police harassment--just that you are free from criminal charges, fines, and jail.

In Toronto the police don't enforce the laws they could use against agency owners, drivers, etc., but in more conservative areas, or at a whim in Toronto, they could start doing that. They also don't enforce the laws against incall very often--though they sometimes do that.