Essentially the IRPR prohibition on sex work makes it impossible for migrants to Canada to choose freely what occupation they do. When they choose to work in the sex industry, they automatically are placed at risk of arrest, detention and deportation. We have actually seen that happen several times with the women we support.
Often they come to the attention of the police because they have decided that they want to report violence or exploitation. Unfortunately, almost every single time we have seen the women actually end up getting deported. It's really a backwards regulation, because I believe the provision was added to the IRPR to address trafficking. It was a deliverable, I believe, with the national action plan from a few years ago. Somehow, it was considered to be a way to address trafficking, but what we have seen is that, in fact, it actually pushes migrant sex workers deeper into the shadows and it limits their access to justice.