prostitution in canada

What the law says[1]:

 

210 Bawdy Houses

(1) Every one who keeps a common bawdy-house is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.   

(2) Every one who

(a) is an inmate of a common bawdy-house,

(b) is found, without lawful excuse, in a common bawdy-house, or

(c) as owner, landlord, lessor, tenant, occupier, agent or otherwise having charge or control of any place, knowingly permits the place or any part thereof to be let or used for the purposes of a common bawdy-house, is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.  

(3) Where a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (1), the court shall cause a notice of the conviction to be served on the owner, landlord or lessor of the place in respect of which the person is convicted or his agent, and the notice shall contain a statement to the effect that it is being served pursuant to this section. 

 (4) Where a person on whom a notice is served under subsection (3) fails forthwith to exercise any right he may have to determine the tenancy or right of occupation of the person so convicted, and thereafter any person is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) in respect of the same premises, the person on whom the notice was served shall be deemed to have committed an offence under subsection (1) unless he proves that he has taken all reasonable steps to prevent the recurrence of the offence.

 

What it means:

1). A bawdy house is a place that is used for the purposes of prostitution. This includes sex workers inviting their clients to their home, working at a brothel or “in-call” service, allowing another person to use a place to bring clients, and even clients who bring sex workers to their home more than once can be charged with this offence.  Anyone found guilty of this offence can face up to 2 years in jail.

2).        (a) Any person found using their place or someone else’s place (includes brothel, friends house, etc.) to bring their clients to use for the purposes of engaging in commercial sexual services can be charged with this offence)

(b) Clients found in places used for commercial sexual services can also be charged with this offence, as well as anyone else on the premises (receptionist, friends, etc.). Anyone charged with this offence can face up to 6 months in jail and/or up to a $2000.00 fine.

3). If a person is found of using their place as a bawdy house will have a notice served to their landlord (or property manager, owner), stating that the person has been found guilty of using their place as a common bawdy house and asking the landlord to take all reasonable measures to evict the person charged.

4). If the landlord (or property manager or owner) does not evict the person charged he/she runs the risk of also being charged with running a bawdy house.

 

 

 

211 Transporting a person to bawdy-house:

Every one who knowingly takes, transports, directs, or offers to take, transport or direct, any other person to a common bawdy-house is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

 

What it means?

Anyone who invites or takes another person to a place that is considered a bawdy house is committing an offence that can give them a maximum of 6 months in jail and/or up to a $2000.00 fine. This includes sex workers who invite other sex workers to work with them at a place (i.e. brothel, shared apartment, etc.), clients who invite other people to a place that is considered a bawdy house are also committing this offence, and drivers who take sex workers to clients homes (or hotel room) can be charged with this offence.

 

 

212 Procuring:

1) Every one who

(a) procures, attempts to procure or solicits a person to have illicit sexual intercourse with another person, whether in or out of Canada,

(b) inveigles or entices a person who is not a prostitute to a common bawdy-house for the purpose of illicit sexual intercourse or prostitution,

(c) knowingly conceals a person in a common bawdy-house,

(d) procures or attempts to procure a person to become, whether in or out of Canada, a prostitute,

(e) procures or attempts to procure a person to leave the usual place of abode of that person in Canada, if that place is not a common bawdy-house, with intent that the person may become an inmate or frequenter of a common bawdy-house, whether in or out of Canada,

 (f) on the arrival of a person in Canada, directs or causes that person to be directed or takes or causes that person to be taken, to a common bawdy-house,

 (g) procures a person to enter or leave Canada, for the purpose of prostitution,

(h) for the purposes of gain, exercises control, direction or influence over the movements of a person in such manner as to show that he is aiding, abetting or compelling that person to engage in or carry on prostitution with any person or generally,

(i) applies or administers to a person or causes that person to take any drug, intoxicating liquor, matter or thing with intent to stupefy or overpower that person in order thereby to enable any person to have illicit sexual intercourse with that person, or

(j) lives wholly or in part on the avails of prostitution of another person, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years.

 (2) Despite paragraph (1)(j), every person who lives wholly or in part on the avails of prostitution of another person who is under the age of eighteen years is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of two years.   

(2.1) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(j) and subsection (2), every person who lives wholly or in part on the avails of prostitution of another person under the age of eighteen years, and who

(a) for the purposes of profit, aids, abets, counsels or compels the person under that age to engage in or carry on prostitution with any person or generally, and

(b) uses, threatens to use or attempts to use violence, intimidation or coercion in relation to the person under that age, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years but not less than five years.

 (3) Evidence that a person lives with or is habitually in the company of a prostitute or lives in a common bawdy-house is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof that the person lives on the avails of prostitution, for the purposes of paragraph (1)(j) and subsections (2) and (2.1). 

 (4) Every person who, in any place, obtains for consideration, or communicates with anyone for the purpose of obtaining for consideration, the sexual services of a person who is under the age of eighteen years is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of six months.

 

What it means

1) Anyone who

(a)  asks or looks for or gets a person to provide sexual services for money[2], (this includes inviting or bringing people from other countries to Canada for the purpose of prostitution),

(b)  asks or convinces some who is not a sex worker to go with them to a bawdy house for the purpose of providing sexual services for money,

(c) allows someone to stay (or hides someone), in a common bawdy house,

(d) asks or convinces someone (whether they live inside or outside of Canada) who is not a sex worker to become a sex worker.

(e) asks or convinces another person (who either lives in or outside of Canada) to leave their residence and move to or work in a bawdy house,

(f) either invites or takes a person who is new to Canada to a bawdy house (this includes telling them where a bawdy house is or how to find one),

(g) asks or takes a person to Canada from another country (or takes a person from Canada to another country) for the purpose of being a sex worker

(h)  forces a sex worker to work, or directs a sex workers work (i.e. setting up a sex worker with clients, scheduling their work hours, telling them when and where to work, etc.), or shows a sex worker how to work (this includes sex workers who help other sex workers work safely – i.e. introducing them to good clients, inviting another sex worker to work or see a client with them, etc.),

(i)  gives another person drugs or alcohol for the purpose of getting that person to provide sexual services for money,

(j) receives all or part of a sex workers earnings , or is cared for by a sex worker, or receives money or gifts from a sex worker (this includes elderly parents, and children over the age of 16 who a sex worker is supporting),

Anyone found guilty of any of the above could face up to 10 years in prison.

2). If a person receives all or part of the earnings from a sex worker who is under 18, or if that person is living on the earnings or receives gifts from a person under 18, they could face at least a 5 year to a maximum of 14 years imprisonment.

2.1) Anyone who profits off or insists that a sex worker under the age of 18 keep engaging in prostitution, or helps a sex worker under 18 to prostitute and uses threats or intimidation is guilty of a criminal act with a sentence of no less then 5 years and no more then 14 years imprisonment.

3) Anyone who lives in a bawdy house, or with a prostitute is considered to be “living on the avails of prostitution” (s. 212 (j)), and can face anywhere from 2 – 10 years in prison unless they can provide evidence of living somewhere else.

4). Anyone who asks or gets a sex worker who is under 18 to perform sexual services for money could face anywhere between 6 months to 5 years imprisonment.

 

213 Communicating for the purposes of prostitution: 

1) Every person who in a public place or in any place open to public view

(a) stops or attempts to stop any motor vehicle,

(b) impedes the free flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic or ingress to or egress from premises adjacent to that place, or

(c) stops or attempts to stop any person or in any manner communicates or attempts to communicate with any person for the purpose of engaging in prostitution or of obtaining the sexual services of a prostitute is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

What it means

1) A public place is anyplace where the public has access to and can include

the street, a bars, hotel lobbies, rooms with an open door or window, and even cell phones, phone booths, chat-lines, and the internet.  A place that is open to public view includes rooms that have the windows or curtains open, a vehicle, or anywhere else where the public could see.

(a) It is illegal to stop or attempt to stop a vehicle for the purpose of prostitution.

(b) It is illegal to stop a person in any public place for the purposes of prostitution. 

(c) It is illegal for people to look for sex workers in a public place or, to ask any person in a public place to engage in sexual services for money.

---

[1] (Department of Justice Canada, 2007)

 

[2] In this page I use the term sexual services for money, but it is also illegal to exchange sexual services for drugs, gifts, services, payment of bills, or goods.

Indecent act -- s. 173 (1): also called exposure. Most people think this only applies to flashers or other perverts, but if a john and a prostitute are engaging in a sex act in a public place they can both be charged with this offense if they intended to offend passerby, or if the act takes place in the presence of other persons. Other offenses that might apply are sexual interference (s. 151) and even sexual assault (s. 271) if the prostitute is under 14; invitation to sexual touching (s. 152); sexual exploitation (s. 153); anal intercourse (s. 159); and, child pornography provisions (s. 163.1).