Federal Law
A. Jurisdiction
Parliament has primary jurisdiction over prostitution-related concerns in Canada through its criminal law power. Federal jurisdiction over the criminal law is derived from s. 91(27) of the Constitution Act, 1867, which states that the powers of Parliament include: “[t]he Criminal Law, except the Constitution of Courts of Criminal Jurisdiction, but including the Procedure in Criminal Matters.”
B. Criminal Code(16)
Prostitution-related offences are contained primarily within the Criminal Code. Sections 210 to 213 of the Code outline offences related to keeping or using common bawdy-houses, transporting a person to a bawdy-house, procuring, and prostitution. Essentially, although consensual sex between two adults for consideration is not in itself punishable in law, other events surrounding the act of prostitution are prohibited. The interpretation and application of each of these provisions will be dealt with in turn.
1. Bawdy-houses
Section 210 of the Criminal Code contains the bawdy-house offence:
s. 210(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
1. is an inmate of a common bawdy-house,
2. is found, without lawful excuse, in a common bawdy-house, or
3. 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.(17)
Section 197(1) defines the relevant terms. “Common bawdy-house” means a place that is kept or occupied, or resorted to by one or more persons, for the purpose of prostitution or to practise acts of indecency. Courts have interpreted this to mean that any defined space is capable of being a bawdy-house, from a hotel, to a house, to a parking lot – provided that there is frequent or habitual use of it for the purposes of prostitution or for the practice of acts of indecency,(18) and the premises are controlled or managed by prostitutes or individuals with a right or interest in that space.(19) Further, the test used to determine whether an act is indecent is a community standard of tolerance.(20) Within this framework, the interpretation of indecency will depend on context, taking into account factors such as consent, the composition of any audience and the level of privacy of the room, community reputation of the place, and any harm caused.(21) For example, if the room is private, or if there is no actual physical contact between a client and an entertainer, then an act is less likely to be labelled “indecent.”(22)
Courts have also held that to be found guilty of keeping a common bawdy-house a person must have some degree of control over the care and management of the premises and must participate to some extent in the illicit activities involved there – although this does not necessarily mean participating in sexual acts.(23) A prostitute may even be found guilty of keeping a common bawdy-house where he or she has used his or her own residence alone for the purposes of prostitution.(24)
Alternatively, to be found guilty of being an “inmate” of a bawdy-house, a person must be a resident or a regular occupant of the premises. To be guilty of being “found in” a bawdy-house, a person must have no lawful excuse for his or her presence and must have been explicitly found there by the police at the time of raid.(25) Finally, courts have said that to be guilty of knowingly permitting the premises to be used for the purposes of a common bawdy house, a person must have actual control of the place and must have either acquiesced to or encouraged its use for that purpose.(26)
2. Procurement
The offence of procurement is contained in s. 212 and carries the toughest penalty for prostitution-related offences under the Criminal Code, with potential imprisonment of up to 14 years for offences relating to minors.
Section 212(1) lists various methods of procurement and states that a person committing such crimes is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years. However, ss. 212(2) and (2.1) expand this offence for situations dealing with minors. Under s. 212(2), a person who lives on the avails of prostitution of a minor is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years. Section 212(2.1) provides a further offence punishable by imprisonment for up to 14 years, but not less than 5 years, for a person who lives on the avails of prostitution of a minor and who, for the purposes of profit, aids, abets, counsels or compels the minor to engage in prostitution, and who uses, threatens to use or attempts to use violence, intimidation or coercion against the minor. Finally, s. 212(4) states that every person who obtains for consideration, or communicates with anyone for the purpose of obtaining for consideration, the sexual services of a minor, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years.
Section 212(3) relates to the evidence necessary for a charge under s. 212. 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.
Procurement essentially refers to an act of persuasion. This accordingly excludes situations where the person whose sexual services are being sold is already or subsequently becomes a prostitute of his or her own free will.(27) Procurement encompasses the following situations:
* requiring or attempting to require an employee to have sexual intercourse with a client;(28)
* enticing someone who is not a prostitute into becoming a prostitute or into a bawdy-house for the purposes of illicit sexual intercourse or prostitution;
* procuring a person to enter or leave Canada for the purposes of prostitution;
* controlling or influencing another person for gain in order to facilitate prostitution;(29)
* intoxicating a person for the purpose of enabling anyone to have sexual intercourse with the intoxicated person; and
* living on the avails of prostitution.
On this last point, there is a rebuttable presumption that a person who lives with a prostitute, is in the habitual company of a prostitute, or lives in a common bawdy-house, lives on the avails of prostitution.(30) This offence connotes a form of parasitic living on a prostitute’s earnings, where an accused must have directly received all or part of the prostitute’s proceeds from prostitution.(31)
As noted above, the penalty for procurement offences is raised when the prostitute is under 18, creating an additional offence for situations in which the procurer lives on the avails of a child involved in prostitution and uses threats or violence to compel such prostitution.
Most importantly, s. 212(4) states that it is an offence to obtain or to communicate for the purpose of obtaining the sexual services of any person under 18 for consideration. Thus, solicitation of a prostitute who is a minor is always illegal.(32) It is no defence to say that the accused believed the complainant was 18 years old.
3. Offences in Relation to Prostitution
Offences related to the act of prostitution itself revolve around the issue of solicitation and the use of public space. These offences pertain to:
s. 213(1) Every person who in a public place or in any place open to public view
1. stops or attempts to stop any motor vehicle,
2. impedes the free flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic or ingress to or egress from premises adjacent to that place, or
3. 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.
(2) In this section, “public place” includes any place to which the public have access as of right or by invitation, express or implied, and any motor vehicle located in a public place or in any place open to public view.
The actual act of exchanging sexual gratification for consideration is not in itself illegal. However, it is illegal to engage in prostitution or to obtain the sexual services of a prostitute in a public place. This restriction encompasses stopping or attempting to stop a motor vehicle, and communicating or attempting to communicate in any manner for the purpose of engaging in prostitution or of obtaining the sexual services of a prostitute.
Section 197(1) defines “public place” as any place to which the public has access as of right or by invitation, whether express or implied. This includes any place that is open to public view, including a car, even one in motion, that is on a public street.(33) However, a plainclothes police officer’s car is not considered a public place.(34)
2. Community Safety
Manitoba, Yukon, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan have adopted another approach to dealing with prostitution at the provincial/territorial level, with their respective Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Acts.(57) These laws allow for the closure of buildings and properties in response to safety and prostitution-related concerns. A person may make a complaint to the Director of Public Safety, stating his or her belief that a property is being habitually used for activities related to prostitution.(58) After investigation, the Director can attempt to resolve the matter through informal action (such as a letter) or may ask the court to make a community safety order.(59) In the latter case, if the court is satisfied that circumstances give rise to a reasonable inference that the property is being used for prostitution-related activities and that the community is adversely affected by those activities, it may make an order prohibiting anyone from causing or permitting those prostitution-related activities, and requiring the person in charge of the property to do everything reasonably possible to prevent those activities. In addition, the court can make an order to vacate the property, to terminate a lease agreement, or to temporarily close the property.(60) Thus the province, through the court, effectively has the power to close down properties relating to prostitution that cause a harm to local communities. Newfoundland has a similar law, which has yet to be proclaimed in force.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/prb0330-e.htm#relatedservices