Section 286.1 — Criminal Code: Obtaining sexual services for consideration

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 an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years and a minimum punishment of, 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, for a first offence, a fine of $2,000, and for each subsequent offence, a fine of $4,000, or in any other case, for a first offence, a fine of $1,000, and for each subsequent offence, a fine of $2,000; or 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, in the case referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), for a first offence, a fine of $1,000, and for each subsequent offence, a fine of $2,000, or in any other case, for a first offence, a fine of $500, and for each subsequent offence, a fine of $1,000. 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 under the age of 18 years is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of for a first offence, six months; and for each subsequent offence, one year. In determining, for the purpose of subsection (2), whether a convicted person has committed a subsequent offence, if the person was earlier convicted of any of the following offences, that offence is to be considered as an earlier offence: an offence under that subsection; or an offence under subsection 212(4) of this Act, as it read from time to time before the day on which this subsection comes into force. In determining, for the purposes of this section, whether a convicted person has committed a subsequent offence, the only question to be considered is the sequence of convictions and no consideration shall be given to the sequence of commission of offences, whether any offence occurred before or after any conviction or whether offences were prosecuted by indictment or by way of summary conviction proceedings. For the purposes of this section, place and public place have the same meaning as in subsection 197(1).