1 Introduction. The legal age of consent to sexual activity refers to the age at which the criminal law recognizes the legal capacity of a young person to provide such consent. 1 Below this age, most sexual activity with a young person, ranging from sexual touching to sexual intercourse, is prohibited. Sexual Health. Understanding According to the law in Canada, age of consent means the legal age when a youth can make a decision to have sex or not. CANADA'S LEGAL AGE OF CONSENT TO SEXUAL ACTIVITY. This paper will review the origins of the current "age of consent" laws in Canada and discuss some of the arguments for and against raising the legal age for consent to sexual .