St. John's city council lifts massage parlour moratorium - CBC.ca

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St. John's city council has lifted its moratorium on new massage parlours, but there is still work to be done — and it won't be immediate.

Council voted unanimously to lift the ban at Monday evening's public council meeting, after debate about regulations for safety and employment standards.


Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O'Leary said a later conversation is needed on safety of the workers, and amended the motion, seconded by Coun. Debbie Hanlon, to include public consultation.

As of now, the moratorium is lifted, but is still pending the enactment of an amendment package to current St. John's development regulations, which could take up to three months.

The moratorium was put in place four years ago when new development regulations were under review. Those regulations have yet to receive approval on the provincial level, leaving the state of massage parlour business applications in limbo.

The ban was initially put in place to "minimize disruption in residential areas from concerns in the downtown," said Coun. Maggie Burton last week, after saying she would introduce a motion to lift the moratorium.

Now that the moratorium is lifted, new applications will be considered as long as they follow site-specific stipulations, such as being a certain distance from a residential unit.

Opinion among advocacy groups is split


There is a sharp divide among certain groups connected to the issue.

Angela Crockwell, executive director of advocacy and outreach group Thrive, told CBC News last week about her concerns over a lack of safety regulations for the establishments, if a moratorium is lifted.

"I think just handing out licences to open new massage parlors does nothing to increase safety for people," said Crockwell, who said her group wasn't consulted.

But the Safe Harbour Outreach Project, which advocates for sex workers, has a different view of the issue and said at the time that the moratorium being lifted would be a "good news story."

Heather Jarvis says she's surprised SHOP wasn't part of the conversation about the regulation of massage parlours. (Paula Gale/CBC)

Program co-ordinator Heather Jarvis told CBC last week that lifting moratorium is a first step toward increasing safety and human rights for people who work in the industry.

"Making sure that people have more regulated places to work communally is not a bad decision," she said at the time.

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