Canada — Legal Help

If detained, you have the right to remain silent and to speak to a lawyer (Charter s.10); ask for duty counsel (free legal advice) immediately. Contact your embassy in Ottawa or nearest consulate — they can visit, provide lawyer lists, and notify family, but cannot pay bail or intervene in proceedings. Age of consent is 16 (Criminal Code s.150.1), rising to 18 where a relationship of trust, authority, dependency, or "prostitution" is involved.

Since the 2014 Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA), selling sex is legal but purchasing it, advertising others' services, and communicating for purchase near schools/playgrounds are criminal offences. Cannabis is federally legal (2018 Cannabis Act) for 18/19+; other drugs remain Schedule I–III under the CDSA with real prison exposure.