Share your thoughts

This is your opportunity to share the impacts, if any, that prostitution has had on your community, family and/or business. City staff will report the outcome of this survey to Council in June.

Go to the online surveyto share your thoughts.

Background: Supreme Court of Canada Ruling on Prostitution Section of the Criminal Code of Canada

On December 20, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that three prostitution-related offences in the Criminal Code were unconstitutional. These are:

Keeping or being in a common bawdy-house;

Living on the avails of prostitution; and

Communicating in public for the purpose of prostitution.

While the act of prostitution itself is not illegal, the Supreme Court of Canada found that, by making these activities illegal, the dangers that prostitutes face were increased. The Court concluded that prostitutes’ rights to life, liberty and security of the person, rights which are guaranteed to everyone, were violated.

To avoid prostitution being unregulated for a period of time, the Court gave the Federal Government one year to decide what it would do about these offences. In the meantime, the three offences will continue to be enforced under the Criminal Code of Canada.

City of Calgary Response

The Federal Government is responsible for creating the laws related to prostitution and for deciding how to respond to the Supreme Court’s decision.

In February, Council approved a Notice of Motion to conduct engagement of external stakeholders through a public submission process in the wake of a recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling that opens the door to new federal legislation on prostitution.

While The City of Calgary does not know what decision Parliament will make, City Council recognizes that prostitution has impacts and Council would like to better understand Calgarians’ views about the current impacts of prostitution on communities, families and businesses.