Toronto Exotic Massage Parlour Events: 1970-2009

Events that have impacted the Toronto Exotic Massage Parlour Industry

Massage Parlours have been in the newpapers since the beginning of newsprint - sex sells
The Toronto Sun, the Globe and Mail, and the National Post have all published their view
The Star even put the story of a discreetly operating massage parlour located at Bay and Richmond Street on the front page
The Hardcopy TV show did a feature on Swedish Touch, the upscale massage parlour in downtown Vancouver
Most of the important changes, especially regarding bylaws, never are reported by the media
Everyone will always remember Gord Martineau standing in front of Plush Spa on Dundas Street with a non-story

1970s  Downtown Toronto Dozens of Toronto adult entertainment businesses thrived in the area which is now the Eatons Centre.
It was like New York's Times Square with strip clubs, peep shows, sex shops and porno magazine stores.
An x-rated movie theatre operated in the building now called the Royal Winter Theatre.
Many upscale massage parlours were on the strip with pretencious names like "Ceasars Spa" and "Pharoahs"
Outcome: Downtown Toronto was the Mecca for Canadian men looking for some sexy fun
 
1977  Yonge/Shuter, Toronto On July 28, 1977, 12-year-old Emanuel Jaques, the "Shoeshine Boy" was murdered downtown.
He was lured into an apartment above the "Charlie's Angels" massage parlour at 245 Yonge Street.
He was tortured for 12 hours, strangled and then thrown onto the roof.
Outcome: The city was disgusted and vowed to eliminate the seedy sex businesses from downtown
 
1981  Toronto Now Magazine was published and distributed for free throughout central Toronto
It was very similar to "The Village Voice" from New York City which began in the early 1970s
Outcome: Massage Parlours reached a wide audience by advertizing in the adult classifieds
 
1980s  Toronto Massage Parlours spread like wildfire all over the Greater Toronto area
Outcome: Every street in the city had a massage business operating. Multiple massage parlours open on Yonge, Coxwell, Steeles, and Beaver Creek. "Yonge Cummer" opens at Yonge and Cummer
 
198?  Toronto Toronto issues body rub licenses for non-medical massage for the first time.
Brampton, Mississauga, Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Hamilton follow with simlar permits.
Markham, Windsor, Guelph, Kitchener do not. In 2007, Ottawa issues body rub parlour licenses.
Each city issues only a small number of licenses (in Toronto it is now 25) and these become extremely valuable
Outcome: The Toronto Exotic Massage industry, as we know it, is shaped.
Large body rub massage spas with showers are opened. A few small unlicensed massage parlours remain
 
199?  Plain Roads, Burlington The city of Burlington spent six miilion dollars trying to close a strip club in Aldershot named Solid Gold.
The owner, an immigrant from Zagreb, Croatia, and his lawyer, Edddie Greenspan, took it to the Supreme Court
Outcome: Canadian municipal governments became fearful of suing adult businesses in court.
 
1997  Bay/Yorkville, Toronto International Shiatsu at 50 Yorkville opened above Mr Sub in ritzy Yorkville.
After working at 70 Yorkville, one lady saw how to make money running a massage parlour in the Bay and Bloor area
Outcome: Half the college girls in Toronto were hired to perform erotic massage and spanking.
 
2000 Vaughan The city of Vaughan succeeded in court in establishing locations and hours of operation for erotic massage.
A few massage spas were allowed away from Woodbridge near Steeles that closed early and offered RMT massage.
Outcome: Massage parlours in Vaughan began closing and/or relocating often into apartments
 
2000 James/Barton, Hamilton Hamilton police raided Studio 7 located at 7 Barton Street East near downtown Hamilton.
Inside the spa were firearms, narcotics, stolen property, $285,000 in cash and an underage girl.
Outcome: Organized crime leadership discovered its not a good idea to "hide" your coke in a massage parlour
In 2008, the spa owners, a married couple, were charged with the 1998 murder of her ex-husband
 
2002 Steeles/Torbram,  Brampton Steeles Royal was bought by new owners. It was a small Hungarian run studio.
At the time, SRM was not among the top 100 MPs and only had three attendants.
Outcome: Ambitious Newfies with a "customer comes first" policy start running a Toronto area spa
 
2003 Brampton The city of Brampton failed in court in its attempt to establish a 9 pm closing time for its body rubs.
The twelve body rubs of Brampton joined together to resist the motion. The hearing was even shown on TV
Outcome: The Brampton spas were energized by the ruling which legitimized adult massage business
 
2004 Leslie/Highway 7,  Markham Three people were shot inside the Mirage massage parlour. The bodies were found in a van behind a church.
It was alleged that the owner, one of the victims, was part of an Asian drug smuggling ring
Outcome: Markham stopped issuing Body Rub licenses. Soon the parlours will dissappear.
 
2006 East Beaver Creek,
Richmond Hill		 York Region Police closed every massage parlour in the Times Square/Beaver Creek area.
During a long campaign, hundreds were arrested and dozens of charges were laid.
Many attendants from Asian Palace moved to Platinum, and from Invisble Touch to Hands from Heaven.
Outcome: Hundreds of massage girls relocated. Half moved south across Steeles to north Scarborough.
The memories of "Eat Beaver Creek" and "Wet Beaver Creek" are all that remain.