New Video: Age of Consent

Check out JFCY’s new video on age of consent.  For those of you who want the details in brief, there's a quick summary of the law below:

Consent to sex is always your decision – The Canadian law requires that all people participating in sexual activity must give their own consent: you decide whether you want to be involved in any kind of sexual activity, from kissing and touching to intercourse.  


However, the law sets some limits on that, so that it is illegal if you are below a certain age to be sexually involved with certain other people. This means that if you are too young to consent to sex with a particular person, that older person could be charged with a criminal offence. 

When are you old enough to legally consent to sexual activity?

If you are…

• 12 or 13, you can consent to sex, but only with someone less than two years older than you.
• 14 or 15, you can consent to sex, but only with someone who is less than 5 years older than you. But, you CAN'T consent to sex with someone who is more than two years younger than you (or you could be charged).
• 16 and older, you can consent to sex with anyone older than you. 
• In all of these cases, however, if you are under 18, you cannot legally consent to sex with someone who is in a position of trust or authority over you (like your teacher, swim coach, Pastor). That person could be charged with a criminal offence.

Read the law: Criminal Code of Canada, s.150.1-153.


Thanks to PLE Team Volunteers Terence Chen (actor and video-editor), Lucas Treleaven (actor and script-writer), Arif Hussain (director), Tracy Chen (filming), Cydney  Kim (brainstorming),  Christine Doucette (law student advisor) and Andrea (script, JFCY lawyer supervisor) for their work on this video!