Edmonton

Rise in escorts may lead to extended body rub parlour hours

Body rub parlours may soon be allowed to remain open later in light of a rising number of escorts licences issued by the City of Edmonton.

Two years ago the city restricted the hours of body rub parlours from open 24 hours to closing at 11 p.m.

Since then, the city noticed a jump in the number of escort licences applications, said Scott Mackie, the city's planning manager.

Mackie believes body rub workers are selling sex after hours away from the safety of the parlours which require more than one worker on site at all times.

Mackie recommends parlours be allowed to stay open until midnight.

"There are a lot of larger moral questions here for Edmontonians, a lot of important safety questions for people involved in the industry and it's murky territory for us," said Mayor Don Iveson.

The recommendation will be discussed further at a later meeting.

With files from CBC's Lydia Neufeld