Reading Room · Psychics and Mediums · History
Is fortune telling legal in Canada?
Yes, as far as federal criminal law goes. Canada's Criminal Code once made it an offence to fraudulently pretend to practise witchcraft or tell fortunes for money (section 365). Parliament repealed that section through Bill C-51, which received Royal Assent on 13 December 2018. Deceiving people for money can still be prosecuted as fraud under section 380.
Facts checked on against 14 sources, 13 of them museum, university, archive, library, government or primary texts.
Quick timeline
Every line comes from a source listed at the bottom of the page. The small numbers point to it.
| 1735 | A British statute of this year ended prosecutions for witchcraft itself and replaced them with a lesser offence of pretending to practise it or to tell fortunes. Canada’s later offence traces back to this Act.12 |
|---|---|
| 1824 | Britain’s Vagrancy Act classed anyone pretending to tell fortunes, by palmistry or otherwise, among rogues and vagabonds, liable to three months in a house of correction.3 |
| 1892 | The offence of pretending to practise witchcraft entered Canadian criminal law with the country's first Criminal Code.2 |
| 1950s | The word "fraudulently" was added to the offence, the main change to its wording over its time in Canadian law.2 |
| 1951 | Britain’s Fraudulent Mediums Act repealed what was left of the 1735 Act and made it an offence to pose as a medium for reward with intent to deceive.4 |
| 6 June 2017 | The Minister of Justice introduced Bill C-51 in the House of Commons; it proposed repealing section 365 along with other offences the government considered obsolete.56 |
| December 2018 | Police in Timmins, Ontario, charged a woman under section 365 two days before the law was eliminated; she denied the allegations.2 |
| 13 December 2018 | Bill C-51 received Royal Assent as Statutes of Canada 2018, chapter 29. The Justice Laws version of section 365 that applied from 1 January 2003 ends on 12 December 2018.57 |
Where the offence came from: the British laws
The Witchcraft Act 1735 repealed the witchcraft statute of 1604 and Scotland’s older witchcraft law. From 24 June 1736 nobody could be prosecuted for witchcraft, sorcery or conjuration, or for accusing another person of it.1
In their place the Act made it an offence to pretend to use witchcraft, to undertake to tell fortunes, or to claim occult skill at finding lost or stolen goods: a year in prison without bail, with an hour in the pillory on market day once each quarter.1
The Act was still in use in wartime Britain. In 1944 the medium Helen Duncan was sentenced to nine months in prison for conspiracy to contravene it, according to Home Office and Director of Public Prosecutions files now at the National Archives.8
The Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 replaced the old charge with a narrower one: purporting to act as a spiritualist medium, or to have telepathic or clairvoyant powers, for reward and with intent to deceive. Anything done solely for entertainment was exempt.4
Fortune-telling as such stayed under the 1824 Vagrancy Act. The 1951 Act was itself repealed for Great Britain on 26 May 2008 by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which moved such cases under consumer-protection law.49
What section 365 prohibited
Section 365, headed "Pretending to practise witchcraft, etc.", made it an offence to fraudulently claim to use witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration.7
It also covered fraudulently undertaking to tell fortunes for payment, and claiming skill in an occult or crafty science to reveal where lost or stolen property could be found.710
It was a summary conviction offence, the less serious category of criminal charge in Canada.7
How Bill C-51 repealed it
Clause 41 of Bill C-51 repealed section 365. The bill's full title is An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Department of Justice Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act.105
The Department of Justice listed the witchcraft offence among old offences that are no longer relevant, alongside duelling and blasphemous libel.6
The Library of Parliament summary explains that the offence had very few prosecutions and overlapped with the general fraud offence, so it could be treated as both obsolete and redundant.10
The Senate adopted two amendments that the House of Commons rejected on 10 December 2018; the Senate did not insist, and the bill received Royal Assent on 13 December 2018.10
Fraud law still applies
Section 380 of the Criminal Code makes it fraud to use deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means to take money, property, a valuable security or a service from any person or the public.11
Fraud over $5,000 can bring up to 14 years in prison on indictment; fraud of $5,000 or less can be prosecuted by indictment (up to 2 years) or on summary conviction.11
In the Timmins case, police said the accused had tried to get money from a resident in exchange for protecting the resident's family from danger. News coverage did not report how the case ended.2
In the United States, it depends on the state
New York Penal Law section 165.35 makes it an offence to claim to tell fortunes, or to claim supernatural powers to answer personal questions or deal with curses or evil spirits, in exchange for a fee.12
The New York section does not apply to a show or performance given only for entertainment or amusement. Fortune telling under it is a class B misdemeanor.12
Warning signs of a psychic or curse scam
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre describes psychic scams that arrive by mail, email or online, offering services such as a lucky charm or removing a jinx, usually for a cash fee.13
After a first payment, the fraudster may demand more money and threaten a curse or a collections notice if the person stops paying.13
The FTC advises ignoring unexpected requests for money, and treats pressure to move money right away, or being told to lie to bank staff about it, as a clear sign of a scam.14
In Canada, the Anti-Fraud Centre takes fraud reports through its website; in the United States, the FTC takes reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, which feed a law enforcement database.1314
Then and now
Then
From 1892 until 2018, pretending to practise witchcraft was a criminal offence in Canada, rooted in a 1735 British statute.2
In its final form, section 365 covered fraudulent claims of witchcraft or sorcery, fortune-telling for payment, and occult claims to find lost or stolen goods.7
Under Britain’s 1735 Act, a convicted fortune-teller faced a year in prison and four turns in the pillory.1
What we worked out
Not stated outright by any one source. This is our own arithmetic or reading of the sources cited.
- The offence stayed in Canadian criminal law for about 126 years, from the 1892 Code to the December 2018 repeal.25
- Because the repeal moved this conduct under the general fraud offence rather than excusing it, taking money through deception about readings, curses or spirits is still a criminal matter in Canada; what changed is which section applies.1011
- Britain dropped its last specific statute in 2008 and Canada its section 365 in 2018: in both countries the old witchcraft lineage ended in general fraud or consumer law rather than in a new fortune-telling offence.910
What we couldn't confirm
- We could not confirm on any Canadian city's own website whether a municipality licenses or regulates fortune tellers or psychics today. A student-newspaper column says Winnipeg once required a licence and dropped it in 2008, but we could not verify this with the City of Winnipeg.
- We did not locate a scan of the 1892 Criminal Code, so we cannot give the original section number or exact first wording.
- We could not find reliable reports of how the Timmins case or a similar December 2018 case in Milton, Ontario, ended.
- Rules in the United States vary by state and city; we confirmed only New York's statute here.
- legislation.gov.uk notes that the Vagrancy Act 1824 is repealed in England and Wales from 29 June 2026; we have not confirmed that commencement against a second source, so the article does not rely on it.
- Helen Duncan is often called the last person convicted under the 1735 Act; we found that claim only in sources we could not check.
Sources
Museums, universities, archives and primary texts first. We paraphrase; nothing is copied. We never cite Wikipedia.
- legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives), King’s Printer copy: Witchcraft Act 1735 (9 Geo. 2 c. 5). Read on · Legislation
- NPR (republished by KCUR): Woman Charged With Fake Witchcraft, Days Before Canada Scraps Old Law (19 December 2018). Read on · News
- legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Vagrancy Act 1824, section 4. Read on · Legislation
- legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 (as enacted). Read on · Legislation
- Parliament of Canada, LEGISinfo: C-51 (42-1): An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Department of Justice Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act. Read on · Government
- Department of Justice Canada: Bill C-51, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Department of Justice Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act. Read on · Government
- Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada: Criminal Code, section 365 (version from 2003-01-01 to 2018-12-12). Read on · Legislation
- The National Archives (UK): HO 144/22172: Victoria Helen Duncan sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to contravene the Witchcraft Act 1735. Read on · Archive
- legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951, section 1 (repeal note). Read on · Legislation
- Library of Parliament: Legislative Summary of Bill C-51, Publication No. 42-1-C51-E (revised 18 December 2018). Read on · Library
- Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada: Criminal Code, section 380: Fraud. Read on · Legislation
- New York State Senate: New York Penal Law section 165.35: Fortune telling. Read on · Legislation
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: Psychic. Read on · Government
- U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice: Did someone tell you to move or transfer your money? It could be a scam (19 January 2024). Read on · Government