Tools for Municipalities: New Westminster

This page was created by Living in Community in 2025 as a resource for businesses, social services, and other organizations in New Westminster to learn more about your City’s approach to sex worker safety. 

This information was developed in and around the unceded lands of the Halkomelem speaking peoples, colonially known as New Westminster.

This project was developed with the expert guidance of an anonymous experiential committee with lived experience in sex work. We are so grateful for their knowledge, time, and generosity.

 


1. Learn More About New Westminster’s Guidelines to Promote Sex Worker Safety 

In 2023, after a three year process with LIC, PACE Society, and a community working group, the City of New Westminster adopted an inclusive approach to promote the wellbeing of sex workers through its Guidelines to Promote Sex Worker Safety. These guidelines aim to educate city staff, inform policy, and foster a respectful and inclusive community.

Specifically, the Guidelines were developed to:

  • Promote health and rights: Ensure that sex workers in New Westminster are treated with dignity, fairness, and respect.
  • Inform City staff interactions: Guide City employees in their interactions with sex workers.
  • Foster non-discriminatory practices: Encourage a consistent and non-discriminatory approach among City staff.
  • Enhance community understanding: Inform the community about the objectives contained in the guidelines.

Scope and community inclusion

The guidelines include sex workers from various communities including:

  • Migrants and people with precarious immigration status.
  • Indigenous and Black folks, people of colour, and other racialized groups.
  • LGBTQ2SI+ communities.
  • People with disabilities.
  • People oppressed by poverty and/or housing insecurity.
  • People who use substances.

Guideline development timeline 

  • June 2021: Council endorsed a motion for a workshop on sex worker safety & best practices for Council and senior staff​.
  • March 2022: Council endorsed a work plan to develop a framework for sex worker safety in New Westminster​.
  • May 2022: workshop held for Council and senior staff by LIC and PACE Society.
  • February – June 2023: community Working Group advised on framework for sex worker safety.
  • November 2023: Council endorsed new guidelines and next steps.

 

2. What the Guidelines Cover

Core principles for municipal staff

The Guidelines say that municipal staff must: 

  • Act with integrity, impartiality, and respect.
  • Make safety and dignity of sex workers a priority.
  • Undergo peer-led training. (by Living in Community and PACE Society).
  • Build respectful, relationship-centered interactions.

Policies and practices

  • When drafting policies and practices, City staff will:
  • Listen to, include, and consider feedback from experiential people and sex work organizations.
  • Abide by confidentiality agreements and respect the privacy and identity concerns of experiential people.

Bylaw regulation and inspections

In responding to complaints or concerns about sex work:

  • The safety, health, rights, privacy, and autonomy of individuals engaged in sex work occupations will be respected.
  • Staff will investigate complaints appropriately and consult with partner organizations when necessary.
  • The City will not inquire about or disclose individuals' immigration status.
  • Regulatory activities will be conducted transparently, and the media will not be alerted during such actions.

City staff responsibilities 

  • Managers, supervisors, and front-line staff interacting with sex workers must participate in training to promote sex worker safety.
  • Supervisors and managers are responsible for addressing employee conduct inconsistent with the Guidelines.
  • Complaints will be investigated with a focus on the safety, autonomy, dignity, and rights of sex workers, following the City's respectful workplace protocols.

Additional considerations

Policing: The New Westminster Police Department (NWPD) is not covered by these municipal staff guidelines. However, the NWPD Sex Work Enforcement Policy states that police are to prioritize the health and safety of sex workers over law enforcement.

Child and youth sexual exploitation: The Guidelines apply to adults in the sex industry only. City employees have a legal duty to report any suspected abuse or exploitation of minors.

Human trafficking: The City distinguishes between sex work and human trafficking, recognizing trafficking as a severe human rights violation criminalized under various laws.

 

3. How You Can Use the Guidelines 

You can ensure your practices are in line with the City’s approach and ensure safety and inclusion for all.

  • Know that sex workers are diverse, and include immigrants & migrants, racialized groups, LGBTQ2SI+ individuals, disabled folks, people with precarious housing, and people who use substances.
  • Understand there are many reasons someone may do sex work, and focus on what they say their need of you is, rather than focusing on their work.
  • Treat sex workers with respect and dignity, and uphold privacy and confidentiality.
  • Do not ask about immigration status.
  • You can also use the Guidelines as a tool in bystander intervention, or as an accountability measure with City staff, police, and/ or other community members. 
  • Spread the word: the more people know about protections for sex workers, the more stigma they can combat. Share our pamphlet and this web page with others.
  • Consider how your organization could incorporate similar practices and policies to create a safer environment for all, including for staff on your team who might be working in the sex industry. This can include:
    • Staff training about sex work stigma and sex workers’ safety
    • Talk to your manager/ leadership about specific policies and programs 
    • Review your programs/ services for accessibility and stigma 
    • Ensure your organization’s record keeping does not disclose or ‘out’ anyone, even if accidentally: understand that requiring legal names, writing information about peoples’ work or inquiries in their files, and other practices may inadvertently ‘out’ them or make them susceptible to being outed in the future. 
    • Review your policies on guest policies, curfews, and substances 
    • Understand that what workers want is to be able to do their work freely and safely. Programs and practices that would help them do this include: emotional support, counselling, peer support, to be informed about police or City staff presence at your organization, and for you to call first in advance if police or City staff need to come to your organization. 
  • Know how to respond to different situations: 
  • Use this as a jumping off point for you to create your own internal guidelines and documents in line with the City guidelines.

 

4. Learn more about sex work: