Age of Consent in Canada: The 16 Year Rule, Exceptions, and the Position of Trust Rule

In Canada, the age of consent to sexual activity is 16 years old under the Criminal Code, but two close in age exceptions apply below that age, and the rule rises to 18 when the older person is in a position of trust, authority, or dependency over the younger one.

Information last verified on 2026-09-24. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

This article covers the federal age of consent to sexual activity under the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, which applies the same way in every province and territory. It does not cover the separate legal ages for alcohol, cannabis, or voting in Canada, which are set by different statutes, or the general age of majority; see Emancipation and the Age of Majority in Canada for how Ontario and British Columbia define that separate concept. It also does not cover the age of consent in any country outside Canada, and it does not describe how young people accused of an offence are processed, which is covered separately in The Youth Criminal Justice Act in Canada.

The Basic Rule: Age of Consent Is 16

The Department of Justice states the rule plainly:

"The age of consent to sexual activity is 16 years... a person must be at least 16 years old to be able to legally agree to sexual activity."

The statutory mechanism behind that plain language is Criminal Code section 150.1(1), which removes consent as a defence when the complainant is under 16:

"...it is not a defence that the complainant consented to the activity that forms the subject-matter of the charge."

This applies to charges under sections 151 (sexual interference), 152 (invitation to sexual touching), 153(1) (sexual exploitation), and several other Criminal Code provisions. In practice, it means a person under 16 cannot legally agree to sexual activity with an adult or with someone outside the close in age exceptions described below, and any purported agreement is not a defence at trial.

The Two Close in Age Exceptions

Section 150.1 does not treat every person under 16 identically. Two specific, narrow exceptions exist for peers who are close in age to each other. They apply only to charges under sections 151 and 152, subsection 173(2) and section 271. Sections 150.1(2.2) and (2.3) also keep narrow transitional defences for certain married or common-law couples.

Section 150.1(2) states the 12 to 13 exception applies where the accused "is less than two years older than the complainant" and "is not in a position of trust or authority towards the complainant, is not a person with whom the complainant is in a relationship of dependency and is not in a relationship with the complainant that is exploitative." Section 150.1(2.1) uses the same trust and dependency language for the 14 to 15 exception, with the age gap widened to less than five years.

Section 150.1(3) adds a related protection that is easy to miss: a 12 or 13 year old cannot be tried for an offence under sections 151, 152 or 173(2) unless they were in a position of trust or authority towards the complainant, the complainant was in a relationship of dependency with them, or the relationship was exploitative of the complainant. The section contains no age gap condition. It protects the 12 or 13 year old from prosecution, separate from whether an accused can rely on a close in age exception.

Age 18: The Position of Trust, Authority, or Dependency Rule

The age of consent effectively rises to 18 in a defined set of relationships. Criminal Code section 153(1) makes it an offence for a person in a position of trust or authority over, in a relationship of dependency with, or in an exploitative relationship with a young person to touch them for a sexual purpose, or to invite or incite that touching. Section 153(2) defines who counts as a young person for this offence:

"young person means a person 16 years of age or more but under the age of eighteen years."

Because this offence applies specifically to 16 and 17 year olds, it functions as an extension of the age of consent to 18 whenever one of those three relationship types is present, even though the general age of consent for someone outside such a relationship remains 16. Section 153(1.2) lists the factors a court may consider in deciding whether a relationship is exploitative:

"(a) the age of the young person; (b) the age difference...; (c) the evolution of the relationship; and (d) the degree of control or influence by the person over the young person."

A teacher and a student, or a coach and an athlete they train, are common examples of a position of trust or authority relationship under this section.

Mistake About Age Is Not an Automatic Defence

A person charged under these sections cannot simply say they believed the complainant was old enough. Section 150.1(4) covers a belief that the complainant was 16 or older, and section 150.1(5) covers a belief that the complainant was 18 or older on a charge under section 153 and certain other offences. Both allow the defence only where the accused "took all reasonable steps to ascertain the age of the complainant." Section 150.1(6) applies the same rule to the close in age exceptions: an accused "cannot raise a mistaken belief in the age of the complainant in order to invoke a defence under subsection (2) or (2.1) unless the accused took all reasonable steps to ascertain the age of the complainant." An assumption based on appearance, a claim the complainant made without any follow up, or no inquiry at all does not meet that standard.

Mandatory Minimum Penalties and the 2026 Protecting Victims Act

Sections 151, 152, and 153(1), the offences that the age of consent rules attach to, carry the following penalties in the version of the Criminal Code current to 2026-09-03:

"...is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of one year; or... is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years less a day and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of 90 days."

Those mandatory minimums, one year on indictment and 90 days on summary conviction, are not new in 2026. The version of each of these sections in force from 2015-07-17 to 2026-07-17 already carried them.

The Protecting Victims Act, S.C. 2026, c. 19, assented to on 2026-06-18, changed these offences in other ways. Its general coming into force rule, section 205(1), brought the relevant provisions into force on the 30th day after royal assent, which is 2026-07-18. Section 152 is now titled invitation to sexual touching or exposure and also covers inviting, counselling or inciting a person under 16 to "expose their own sexual organs." Section 153(1) gained a matching paragraph (c) for a young person.

The Act also added section 718.4 to the Criminal Code. It says a court "shall impose a shorter term of imprisonment than the specified term if, in the circumstances, the minimum punishment would amount to cruel and unusual punishment for that offender," and the court must record its reasons for doing so. Section 87 of the Act states that, following the enactment of section 718.4, "the operation of the minimum punishments that are set out in [the Criminal Code] or in any other Act of Parliament is affirmed."

If You Are Worried About a Child's Safety

This article explains the law rather than a specific situation, and nothing here is a substitute for reporting a real concern. If you believe a child is being sexually exploited online, including through shared intimate images or online luring, Cybertip.ca is Canada's tipline for reporting it and is operated by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. Kids Help Phone offers free, confidential support to youth across Canada by phone at 1 800 668 6868, 24 hours a day, and by text, by texting CONNECT to 686868. If a child is in immediate danger, contact your local police service directly rather than waiting.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information about the federal age of consent to sexual activity under the Criminal Code of Canada, current as of September 2026, and applies the same way in every province and territory. It is not legal advice, it does not address a specific set of facts, and it does not cover related but separate topics such as the age of majority or the legal ages for alcohol and cannabis. Consult a lawyer licensed in your province or territory, or contact police, for advice on a specific situation.