Is the act of receiving a &#39;happy ending&#39; illegal in Canada?
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/massage-therapist-s-happy-endings-incident-spurs-federation-to-take-action-1.4659016" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/massage-therapist-s-happy-endings-incident-spurs-federation-to-take-action-1.4659016</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the recording of the interaction at the Kirkland police detachment,
the officer tells her that it is unlikely the man will be found, that
the punishment would be minimal if he were ever convicted and that the
expectation of &quot;happy endings&quot; comes along with the profession.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I was surprised to read this on a news article, because the law clearly states that it's illegal.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>While happy endings are legal in Montreal,</strong> they are not provided by certified and licensed massage therapists who are closer to
physiotherapists in the services they provide and who usually work out
of athletic therapy clinics, gyms, and spas.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/05/08/opinion/happy-endings-not-part-job" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/05/08/opinion/happy-endings-not-part-job</a></p>
<p>So there are two articles that seems to suggest it's legal, while the law states the opposite.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/c36faq/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/c36faq/</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Purchasing sexual services and communicating in any place for that
purpose is now a criminal offence for the first time in Canadian
criminal law. A person convicted of this new offence may be sentenced
to up to 5 years imprisonment if prosecuted on indictment, and 18
months if prosecuted by summary conviction.</strong> Mandatory minimum fines
also apply, including higher mandatory minimum fines if the offence is
committed in a public place that is or is next to parks, schools,
religious institutions or places where children can reasonably be
expected to be present. A person convicted of purchasing sexual
services from a person under the age of 18 years may be sentenced to
up to 10 years imprisonment. Mandatory minimum penalties of 6 months
imprisonment for a first offence and one year for subsequent offences
also apply.</p>
<p>The new purchasing offence applies to transactions that take place
over the Internet, such as paying someone to provide a sexual service
in front of a webcam.</p>
<p>A “sexual service” is a service that is sexual in nature and whose
purpose is to sexually gratify the person who receives it. “Obtaining
a sexual service for consideration” involves an agreement for a
specific sexual service in return for payment or another kind of
consideration, including drugs or alcohol. It doesn’t matter whether
payment is made by the person who receives the sexual service or by
another person.</p>
<p>Activities that amount to “obtaining a sexual service for
consideration”, if a person pays for them, include: sexual
intercourse; <strong>masturbation;</strong> oral sex; lap-dancing, which involves
sitting in a person’s lap and simulating sexual intercourse; and,
sado-masochistic activities, provided that the acts can be considered
to be sexually stimulating or gratifying.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So which one is it?</p>

<p>The third link clarifies that purchasing sex is a crime, but selling it is not:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The new prostitution laws do not criminalize the sale of sexual
services. They also protect those who sell their own sexual services
from criminal liability for any part they may play in the prostitution
offences that prohibit purchasing sexual services, advertising those
services, receiving a material benefit from the prostitution of others
or procuring others for the purpose of prostitution.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It also isn't unusual for a local law enforcement or prosecution agency to adopt a policy of not prosecuting an offense available under the law for certain circumstances. Perth, Australia had such a policy for many years and perhaps still does.</p>
<p>The first article makes clear that the particular police officer's statement in the case mentioned was inaccurate as an explanation of the current state of the law or local law enforcement policy, and reflected insensitivity and misconduct on the part of the police officer:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the recording of the interaction at the Kirkland police detachment,
the officer tells her that it is unlikely the man will be found, that
the punishment would be minimal if he were ever convicted and that the
expectation of &quot;happy endings&quot; comes along with the profession.</p>
<p>Cavaliere insisted she wanted to file a report and left the station
with forms to fill out, but said the incident left her feeling
unsupported and scared to return.</p>
<p>She did return the next day accompanied by her boss and file a report
with a different officer the next day.</p>
<p>A Montreal police spokesperson said the officer's reaction was &quot;sad&quot;
and &quot;wrong,&quot; but does not reflect the service as a whole.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The second article is not open access, but appears to be a reaction to, and misinterpretation of, the same incident.</p>
<p>A comprehensive discussion of the somewhat complicated situation can be found <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Canada" rel="nofollow noreferrer">at Wikipedia</a>.</p>

canada prostitution