Prostitution laws in Canada

In 2014 Canada adopted and implemented the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA), a model of law that criminalizes sex buyers and pimps, not the individuals who are being bought and sold. Rather it considers those prostituted as victims of exploitation and targets the demand for paid sex, which fuels prostitution and sex trafficking.

PCEPA recognizes that the vast majority of women in prostitution are not there by free, unconstrained choice, but as a result of poverty, racism, abuse or coercion. Youth who age out of foster care are particularly vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation.

This law is an essential tool in the fight against sexual exploitation in Canada. But it is due for a review and the government is under pressure to repeal it.

We know the sex trade operates on market principles of supply and demand. Wherever there is a demand for paid sexual services, a supply of women, girls and boys is found. Prostitution is a system that profits from their abuse.

“PCEPA is also significant – and essential – because the law is a teacher,” says EFC public policy director Julia Beazley. “It has a normative effect on society. Properly implemented and enforced, this law would teach coming generations of boys that it is not just illegal but also unacceptable to buy sex. It teaches girls and boys that no one has the right to paid sexual access to their bodies.”

A review of the law is expected in Parliament at any time. The requirement for a review was built into the bill when it passed.

Pro-prostitution groups are pressuring the government to repeal the law. They are pushing for full decriminalization of prostitution so all aspects of the commercial sex trade, including buying sex, pimping or keeping a brothel would be legal.

Countries that have fully decriminalized or legalized prostitution, such as Germany, have seen a significant increase in sex tourism and sex trafficking. Demand skyrockets when the sex trade is legitimized and sex trafficking increases to meet that demand.

Canada can and must do better for vulnerable women. Prostitution must never be accepted as a solution to poverty. Canada must protect its people from sexual exploitation and address the social conditions that drive them to it.

“Prostitution is inherently violent and exploitative. It is a system that profits from the abuse of women, girls and boys.” –Julia Beazley