My understanding is laws have always been in place. but the courts had struck down key parts that basically made them meaningless. There is a deadline later this year that if the laws were not fixed/replaced they would become nul and void.
Originally Posted by OldButStillGoing
Basically correct.
Prostitution has always been legal in Canada, but there were always a few laws on the books that prohibited street prostitution, brothels, and pimping. Those laws were struck down as unconstitutional last year, with a deadline for new laws to be put in place by the end of the year.
We currently have a conservative majority government, which will be able to slam through any laws they want. This law in particular is bound to face another constitutional challenge though, which will take years to wind through the courts. They are basically putting back in the original laws with different wording.
One of the new laws specifically prohibits any company from
knowingly allowing sex for money advertisement
on a website, in a newspaper, etc. It's really just a rewrite of the old "communicating for the purpose of prostitution in a public place" which was struck down last year.
It's actually a very minor change in how things have been for a hundred years in Canada, and time for money will always be legally advertised. Prostitution has never been truly wide open up here, and it never will be. Legally, there will always be laws to address the nuisances (street prostitution, graphic advertising, pimps).
People in the community are very upset about these new laws, but I don't expect things to be much different than they have been up here than they have been as long as I've been in the business. Regardless, we are going to tighten things up now that websites are specifically addressed, and continue to operate as a legal Canadian business.
Always,
Gina