Law360 Canada ( July 24, 2025, 2:58 PM EDT) -- Appeal by appellants from a judgment of the Alberta Court of Appeal which restored their convictions. The appellants were convicted of receiving a material benefit from sexual services and procuring a person to offer or provide sexual services for consideration. The charges stemmed from their involvement as drivers in an escort business. They successfully challenged the constitutionality of the material benefit offence and procuring offence. The trial judge found the offences to be overbroad because they criminalized individuals who assisted sex workers in a non-exploitative manner. She held that these offences prohibited sex workers from taking the safety measures contemplated in the decision Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford (Bedford) and therefore negatively affected their security of the person and infringed s. 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter). She ordered a stay of proceedings. The Court of Appeal found the trial judge mischaracterized the purpose of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act and misinterpreted the scope of the material benefit offence and procuring offence. It set aside the declarations of invalidity and stays of proceedings and restored the appellants’ convictions. The only issues before the Court were whether the material benefit and procuring offences infringed s. 7 of the Charter, and if so, whether any such infringement was justified under s. 1....