It is not illegal in Canada to be a prostitute (sex worker) however soliciting, procuring, living off the avails and keeping a common bawdy house are illegal. Many of these prohibitions contribute to the high rates of violence that sex workers experience for various reasons. Below are descriptions of sections 210 to 213 of the criminal code.
Keeping a Common Bawdy House: s. 210 (1): It is illegal for an owner, landlord, tenant, agent or property manager to knowingly allow their property or any part of the premises to be used as a place for prostitution (sex for money).
Being an Inmate of Common Bawdy House s. 210 (2): It is illegal to work or live in a space that is used as a space where sex for money takes place.
Notice of Conviction of Keeping a Common Bawdy House s. 210 (3) (4): When a person is convicted of keeping a common bawdy house [s. 210 (1)], the court serves a notice to the landlord, property owner or manager saying that the tenant or occupier has been convicted of this offense. The landlord is then expected to take all reasonable steps to evict the person charged, and if he or she doesn't and the person gets charged again then the landlord or property owner will also be charged.
Transportation of a Person to a Common Bawdy House s. 211: It is illegal to take, offer to take, or direct anyone to a common bawdy house.
Procuring s. 212 (1): It is illegal to influence a person who is not a sex worker to become a sex worker, whether inside or outside Canada.
Exercising Control, Direction or Influence s. 212 (1) (h): It is illegal to control the movements of a sex worker or force a sex worker to work for gain or profit.
Living on the avails s 212 (1) (J): It is illegal for anyone who lives with or who is habitually in the company of a sex worker to live partly or wholly on the income made from a sex worker. The purpose of this law is to target pimps who receive a portion of a sex worker’s earnings.
An escort service is guilty of s. 212 if it profits from the prostitution (most escort agencies say they only charge for the companionship and time) of its employees.
Communication for the purposes of prostitution 213: It is illegal for a sex worker and client to talk openly in public about exchanging money for sex. Public places include vehicles, parking lots, restaurants/bars, hotel lobbies, streets, or any place that the public has access to or that the public can view. A non-public place would be a hotel room, apartment or house (apartments and homes can be at risk through the bawdy house laws). It is also illegal to stop or attempt to stop or impede motor or pedestrian traffic.
The Communication law is the source of 93% of all prostitution convictions in Canada (Statistics Canada 2004). This law came into effect on December 20th 1985 to replace the old solicitation law that only targeted sex workers. The Communication law was put in place to target both sex workers and clients equally.
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).
Loitering: Many business owners who own establishments where prostitutes congregate are frustrated that the police cannot simply go and arrest someone who is standing on a corner and is obviously a prostitute. Loitering is not illegal. In the past, prostitutes could be arrested under vagrancy laws if they were standing for some time on a street corner. These laws were repealed some time ago. Police can only encourage prostitutes to move from a certain location. They cannot arrest them unless they are doing something illegal.
For the full printable format of the Criminal Code of Canada please click on the following link to reach their website.
laws.justice.gc.ca/en/ShowFullDoc/cs/C-46///en
