Will there be new regulations for massage places?

[Ponce de León]

a registered masseuse told me there will soon be new regulations for massage places. Already Ville St. Laurent does not allow massage salons, and the Villeray district is not allowing new places. She told me that soon it will be like in Toronto and the masseuses will all have to have certification and city registration.

 

[sam311]

This means more indies and no room fees.

 

[Rod Blagojevich]

I think if there are more regulations on salons and the girls need to get a permit like in other cities. Many will just no longer be available. I would say half of the girls ( if not more ) in salons are part timers doing a few days to a few weeks here and there part time. If these young girls are required to get a permit, they will not bother. They may not want the possibility that they secret massage activities be outed with government registration. Many young girls will get out of the biz and stay out because it is too much trouble to get certification and permits. The ones that want to stay in will jam up the massage schools to get their minimum certification and then their permits. Some will set up private shop.
If these new regulations are put in place you will see the balance of supply and demand shift to the opposite where there is less supply and the meet the needs of current demand, therefore existing massage indy places will be at full capacity. The salons will empty out because there will almost be no certified girls with permits. The salons will empty out and go bust, it will take at least 6 months before the first girls from the salons bother to get massage school certification and permits. Young girls work at salons because of the convenience of not having to get a place of their own and they can work when they want and stop and start as they need to. So there will always be girls that want to work at the salons, but if these new regulations are put in place they may not be able to work in salons.
The street scene has been wiped out by massage salons, I do not know if it will come back if these regulations come into effect. I have always preferred indies, I have my list of regular indies that I visit regularly are familiar with me. You can call it Most Favored Nations Status or Frequent Flyer Miles. If and when the new regulations are implemented, I will have no trouble getting appointments when I want.

 

[sam311]

This is a mature industry with a low entry barrier.

You're right, the street-level-massage-parlor supply curve will be affected, but it wouldn't take very long before agencies start providing massage services in apartments, therefore re-establishing the supply.

Today, massage parlors need to have massage rates (= room fees) in order to look legitimate. In a regulated environment, where agencies provide services in private apartments, the competition will eventually reduce/eliminate the room fee.

 

[Mr. Rhino]

It has been a long time since I have been on the street scene, I would be afraid. to pick anyone up today. I think if there is any regulation it will target the salons.

 

[gugu]

The erotic business regulation are a borough matter in Montreal and Québec, contrary to Toronto, so you can expect quite a mix of regulations in the city.

 

[gugu]

there is 3 levels of massage certification and it cost about $10,000 to become a fully liscenced massage person.do you think someone is willing to shell out $10k so they can go work in some dump and give handjobs,as many of the present unprofessional salons are dumps

I don't know where you get that information from. The license to work in a buddy rub place in Toronto is around 500$, renewable every year for about 350$. The license you're talking about is for a professional massotherapist. I don't think any municipality or borough is thinking about imposing such license to erotic masseuses. Those licenses, by the way, forbid the detainee to provide erotic services.

 

[spacecadet]

By the time any of this actually happens, the law will have changed for bawdy houses (incalls) in Canada.
Ruling is expected to be in less than a year. So basically none of these girls will need licences and will finally be able to live off their jobs without fear of persecution.
The only hitch in this, is that they'll probably need to declare their earnings ...

 

[gugu]

JSB, yep, that's about how it works. How can a municipality ask for licenses when the government does not want to recognize a professional order to the massage professionals. The FQM is entirely private, not recognized in any way by the government of Québec. Of course, the professional members of the FQM would like the erotic massage industry to collapse, it drains their customers. You can be certain that they let it know. It is absolutely fine, IMHO, that the authorities try to control the implantation of erotic massage lounges under the cover of professional massotherapy banners.

The new phenomenon that we have seen is that due to powers recently confirmed by the government of Québec, the local authorities may decide to restrict the number of permits they emit for erotic businesses. Some are quite radical, like Saint-Laurent with no permit at all, some are questionable, like Sainte-Foy, a borough of Québec: 2 permits for a population of 100000.

Spacecadet, I am not so sure. Decriminalization in Canada will never be a free for all. Of course no massage parlor will be prosecuted anymore under the section 210 (bawdy house), but municipalities will all have a big say. And I presume that buddy rub parlor will have distinct permits from bordellos.

 

[Ponce de León]

I think it has a lot to do with taxes. Just like the way restaurants are required to put a bill on the table for your meal now, they plan to do the same for bars
and drinking places. If girls are required to have a permit, they will have to declare income. This income has to match up with what the salons say they paid out. If there is any discrepancy, then that would trigger off an audit. Just having a system in like this would pull in millions in taxes. I think the government wants to eliminate massage salons as money laundering for ill gotten gain from illegal activities. One salon girl told me that her place was owned by bikers.