Beyond Decriminalization: Sex-work, Human Rights and a New ...

PIVOT LEGAL SOCIETYally, people would find a way around, but if they wanted to shut everybody downfor a couple of months, they could. And then people would just have to fork over the$500 [for a fee for certification] and go get certified in something. And there’d be thepressure to do that quickly, whereas right now there’s not. And even with my ownstaff, y’know to tell people they’d have to go get certified, they would be like, whenwas the last time that anyone checked? It doesn’t matter that it was four years ago, itcould happen tomorrow.- female off-street in-call sex workerBody rub parlour licenses in Edmonton and CalgaryThe licensing fees for businesses in Vancouver are similar to those in Calgary and Edmonton.The Calgary By-Law No. 32M98 governs business licensing fees. 65 A Body Rub Studio license costs$3,600 and a Dating and Escort Service license costs $3,600, while a Motor Vehicle Dealer licensecosts $110.00. In Edmonton, Business License By-Law No. 13138 sets out business licensing fees,including $4,092 annually to license an Escort Agency, $1,535 for an Independent Escort license,$154 for a Vehicle Dealership and $512 for a Nightclub. 66Sex workers commented that they felt having much higher licensing fees for sex industry businesseswas unfair, discriminatory and prohibitive:Q. So, what is your opinion about licensing fees for individual sex workers, and aboutlicensing fees for sex work businesses?A. They should be on par with everything else. Not like there’s such a jump, in that eightthousand, that’s ridiculous. Between the body rub and what was it?A. Escort services. Like one’s 800 and one’s 8,000 [dollars?]. They should definitely be onpar with each other basis. That’s legitimate. Not just some government.A. Yeah.A. I mean some of the services are exactly the same – as a brothel house and a massageparlour.A. Exactly. So they should be on par with the licensing too.- female street-level sex workersA sex worker in Edmonton described how she felt the high fees for independent escorts made it difficult,if not impossible, for some women to move from the street into independent escort work:A. The cost is $4,000 if you want an agency license in Edmonton where you wouldemploy people as opposed to 15 hundred dollars for somebody who is independent.And that brings me pretty much up to today.Q. What do you think of that particular arrangement right now?A. Well, I find it workable, probably because I have been around for long, and I’maware of it, and for what it’s for, think it’s very prohibitive for anybody to just walkinto, into the independent part of the business and work without any, any agencyhelp because it’s so, I mean it’s not even just $1,500. It’s another hundred dollarsand it’s an added insult because you first have the $1,500 of the independent agencylicense but you still have to employ yourself even though you can’t employ anyone elseand that’s a hundred dollars, and then because that’s the nature of the beast you haveto have a home business license which is another $35, and now I hear it’s up twopercent from that. So, you know, it’s a lot of money and the upstart is, is so expen-65 City of Calgary, By-law No. 32M98, Business Licence Bylaw.66 City of Edmonton, By-law No. 13138, Business Licence Bylaw.44