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Criminal - Sex Trade - Purchasing [CCC 286.1]. R. v. Kloubakov
In R. v. Kloubakov (SCC, 2025) the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed a criminal appeal, this from an Alberta CA ruling that allowed a Crown appeal against an Alberta QB decision in which "the trial judge held that these offences [SS: 'receiving a material benefit from sexual services and of procuring': CCC 286.2 and 286.3] prohibited the safety measures contemplated in Bedford [SS: Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford (SCC, 2013)] and therefore infringed s. 7 of the Charter".
Here the court canvasses the law of 'purchasing' of sexual services [CCC s.286.1]:A. Purchasing Offence (Section 286.1)
[25] For the first time in Canadian law, s. 286.1 of the Criminal Code makes it an offence to purchase sexual services or to communicate with anyone for that purpose. As the Technical Paper explains, “[t]his new offence makes prostitution itself an illegal practice; every time prostitution takes place, regardless of venue, an offence is committed” (p. 5). Criminalizing those who create the demand for the sale of sexual services was seen as furthering the “overall objective to reduce that demand, with a view to ultimately abolishing prostitution to the greatest extent possible” (p. 5). Section 286.1(1) provides:286.1 (1) Everyone who, in any place, obtains for consideration, or communicates with anyone for the purpose of obtaining for consideration, the sexual services of a person is guilty of
(a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years and a minimum punishment of,
(i) in the case where the offence is committed in a public place, or in any place open to public view, that is or is next to a park or the grounds of a school or religious institution or that is or is next to any other place where persons under the age of 18 can reasonably be expected to be present,
(A) for a first offence, a fine of $2,000, and
(B) for each subsequent offence, a fine of $4,000, or
(ii) in any other case,
(A) for a first offence, a fine of $1,000, and
(B) for each subsequent offence, a fine of $2,000; or
(b) an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine of not more than $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years less a day, or to both, and to a minimum punishment of,
(i) in the case referred to in subparagraph (a)(i),
(A) for a first offence, a fine of $1,000, and
(B) for each subsequent offence, a fine of $2,000, or
(ii) in any other case,
(A) for a first offence, a fine of $500, and
(B) for each subsequent offence, a fine of $1,000. [26] Section 286.1(2) creates a separate offence, with more severe punishment, of purchasing sexual services from a person under the age of 18.
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