Barely Legal: Canada Raises Age of Consent to 16

by jordan | May 1, 2008 at 12:21 pm | 638 views | 2 comments

Canada's age of consent has been raised to 16 today. It used to be 14, which I had no idea about... that's pretty dang young, though kids are doin' it earlier and earlier. (Just because they are, doesn't mean they should: sexual activity has been mainstreamed for youth, but the responsibilities associated with it remain the same, and the risks have increased)

Canada's age of sexual consent will be bumped up two years to 16 beginning Thursday.

The change means adults who have sex with boys or girls aged 14 and 15 years old could face criminal charges.

Canada's age of consent has been 14 since 1892.

The legislation was brought in by the Conservative government in part to deal with older internet predators who troll the web looking for younger victims.

Canada's age of consent will now be in line with other countries, such as Britain and Australia, and most American states.

The intent of the new law is not to criminalize teenage sex, but to crackdown on adults who prey on youth, former justice minister Vic Toews said when the bill making the change was introduced.

The law includes a "close-in-age" provision of five years, which means it would be legal for a 15-year-old to have relations with a 19-year-old provided the relationship is not exploitive and the older party is not in a position of authority or trust.

However, this new law does not treat all forms of sex equally: anal sex remains illegal for anyone under 18, though enforcement is quite obviously an issue.

The legislation does not lower the age of consent for anal sex, which is still set at 18 years.

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René

at 14:06 on May 1st, 2008

OMG, does this also apply to marriage?

jordan

at 15:17 on May 1st, 2008

That's a good question. The marriage age varies by province, but is generally 18-19. Exceptions exist in which 16-year-olds can marry with parental consent; to my knowledge, this is not affected by the new ruling, as Canadian law considers marriage to exist outside of a sexual relationship.