đ This fact may be outdated
This was true from approximately 2000-2012 when Canada had a temporary foreign worker program for exotic dancers. Immigration lawyer Mendel Green confirmed that applicants were required to submit fully nude photos as proof of their profession. The program was eliminated in 2012 and exotic dancer work permits are now completely banned in Canada.
Women wishing to enter Canada to work as strippers must provide naked photos of themselves to qualify for a visa!
Canada's Stripper Visa Required Nude Photo Proof
If you wanted to work as a stripper in Canada during the 2000s, your visa application came with an unusual requirement: fully nude photographs of yourself performing. No partial nudity allowedâimmigration officers needed to verify you were the real deal.
Immigration lawyer Mendel Green, who worked with these applicants, was blunt about the policy: "They can't be partially nude. If they don't have pictures in the nude, they are not going to wiggle their bottoms in Canada."
A Program Born from Bureaucracy
Canada's exotic dancer visa program existed as part of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. At its peak in 2003, the country issued 601 work permits to foreign exotic dancersâ582 of them to women from Romania alone. Between 2001 and 2005, a total of 1,713 visas were granted.
The stated purpose? To fill a supposed shortage of exotic dancers in Canada. But the nude photo requirement served a different function entirely: preventing fraud and ensuring applicants were actually experienced performers, not victims of human trafficking being smuggled into the country under false pretenses.
The Government's Awkward Defense
When news of the nude photo policy broke, the Canadian government found itself in an uncomfortable position. Officials denied reports that visa officers were "sifting through hundreds of nude photos," but simultaneously confirmed they did require "photographic evidence" of an applicant's trade.
The justification? Cracking down on trafficking. The irony? The program itself became linked to organized crime and exploitation.
The End of an Era
By 2012, the writing was on the wall. The Conservative government's omnibus budget bill C-38 gave immigration officials the power to refuse and invalidate exotic dancer work permits. The curtain fell completely in 2013 with new regulations:
- Paragraph 200(3)(g.1) of Immigration Regulations prohibited work permits for exotic dancers
- Officers were legally required to refuse applications for employment in the adult entertainment industry
- All temporary resident permits now include a condition: "Not valid for employment in businesses related to the sex trade"
The number of permits had already plummetedâonly 12 exotic dancers entered Canada in 2011, down from hundreds annually in the early 2000s.
Today, the "stripper visa" is a relic of immigration history. But for nearly a decade, Canada really did require nude photos to prove you were qualified to take your clothes off professionally. The bureaucratic logic is almost as mind-bending as the policy itself.