Canada - Prostitution legal in Canada?

Was just in Detriot doing some biz and a little gambling at one of the local casinos.

Person next to me at the craps table struck up a conversation. I had mentioned that I used to go over to the Windsor Casino (in Canada) before Detriot allowed a casino to go up.
He said yeah he used to go to that one to but feels he has better luck in Detriot. "but at least" he said, "prostitution is legal in Windsor" and proceeded on like he was serious.

I then remembered being in Victoria, BC this past summer and the wife and I got turned around, ended up on the not so touristy side of Victoria and noticed street walkers with no fear of the cop cars going by hustling.

Was prostitution made legal in Canada?

How is the general Canadian public reacting?

All I know is that Windsor is famous for strip clubs Jason's & the Million Dollar Saloon, where the go-go girls get totally naked & the clients are encouraged to wear suits &or ties, in contrast to the sleaziness & dive status of many US 'gentlemen's clubs.' I met friends in the 1980s who drove from as far away as Toledo & Findlay, Ohio, just to go ogle the girls.

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Play the travel game 3 vacations into the future!

I am not sure if prostitution is legal or not but the local governments here seem to turn a blind eye to it if it's done in not-so-busy and non-residential areas, and there's no public solicitation (I'm not sure what your neighbourhoodin Victoria was like as I'm not familiar with the place). There appears to be little if any entrapment of prostitutes and johns in the street. Anyway, most of the business here has, as it also has in the U.S., been transformed into escort agencies and "massage" parlours.

There seems to be some confusion in the 1st reply. Firstly, there's nothing forbidding full nudity as far as strip shows go though what strippers can do varies from province to province. Secondly, just because a woman is a stripper doesn't mean she is a prostitute. I believe most strippers are not prostitutes.

As a side, laws forbidding women to go topless in public were struck down by the Supreme Court in Ontario a few years ago for contravening the equality of sexes in the constitution. Women in Ontario are free to go about topless as long as it's not in a sexual manner.

Prostitution is most definitely NOT legal here. Many places may not crack down extremely hard on it, but it remains illegal - and will likely remain so unless we become really desperate for a new taxation base...

Naked strippers are an entirely different story, of course. Come visit Montreal!

-Zombie-

Actually the act itself is not illegal and has not been for decades, if ever.

Solicition (usually means in public) is as is procuring or living off the avails (pimps and brothels) - the last pimp sentenced here got 7 years in the pokey so they don't care a lot for these wolves.

Streetwalkers are busted constantly under nuisance laws passed in areas common to this activity much more than persitent or public solicition but both happen. Vancouver has a big zone of intolerance and has for years.

An escort you call comes to the house or hotel, legal. S they aren't soliciting in public, it is a private transaction. Check the free weekly papers and the yellow pages.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ricktoronto:
An escort you call comes to the house or hotel, legal. S they aren't soliciting in public, it is a private transaction. Check the free weekly papers and the yellow pages.</font>

This appears to be true, a Detriot buddy of mine checked in the yellow pages and the escort services did indeed have license numbers listed, which I assume means the Canadian government is involved somehow in monitoring this trade.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">This appears to be true, a Detriot buddy of mine checked in the yellow pages and the escort services did indeed have license numbers listed, which I assume means the Canadian government is involved somehow in monitoring this trade.</font>
I don't think so Sweet Willie. As a "business" that operates in a city and pays city taxes, they have a business license. What the business does is a different story - and every so often these "businesses" are raided and closed down. It's no different in the US - if I choose I can pick up a local paper and find plenty of "massage parlors" or escort agencies.
The Canadian gov't can be accused of doing many dumb things, but running cathouses isn't one of them.

[This message has been edited by NeverAtHome (edited 11-21-2002).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by NeverAtHome:
I don't think so Sweet Willie. As a "business" that operates in a city and pays city taxes, they have a business license.</font>

that makes sense. I received a letter from a city where I have a property and it was regarding a local meeting to discuss the zoning and license for an escort service that wanted to be located nearby.

If you really really want to know aout this, Libby Davies, a New Democratic Party member of parliament will be on CBC Radio One's Vancouver noon show tomorrow (Wednesday 27th) talking about legalisation.

You can listen in between noon and 2 p.m. P.S.T. by going to this link
http://vancouver.cbc.ca/
and clicking on the Radio One 690 Live button.

As a legal type, I can tell you that prostitution is not illegal in Canada but soliciting for purposes of prostitution in a public place is a criminal offence and either or both a prostituten and/or a 'john' can be charged for so soliciting.

The license numbers one sees in some centres in the phone book or print media are the licences issued by municipal authorities much the same as a business license. The Federal and Provincial Governments do not attempt to regulate or license escorts et al.

There has been some talk of attempting to prosecute advertisers as a form of "public solicitation" but it never seems to make much headway.

Thus, the familiar scene on the U.S. television shows such as "Cops" of cops bursting into a room to arrest a 'john' who has just solicited a hooker NEVER takes place in Canada. The arrest, if any, takes place on the street and almost always involves a special operation with plainclothes officers. Our courts have held that a conversation in a car is not a "public" place and thus is not illegal.

'Nuff said! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif