CANADA: Murky child labour laws put lives at risk with dangerous jobs

Summary: The minimum age and maximum hours for young workers vary between provinces, as does the type of job.

[7 November 2011] - Two teens. Two deaths. Two unsafe summer jobs.

Maxime Degray was loading corn cobs on a western Quebec farm late in August 2005 when he fell off a slow-moving trailer and was crushed to death by its wheels. He was 13.

Andrew James was off-loading materials for a paving company in Stony Mountain, Man., in July 2008 when he was buried alive beneath a mound of hot asphalt. He was 15.

Canadians like to think child labour only happens overseas. Few think of teens paving Canada's highways. In fact, little attention is paid to working conditions for children in this country until one of them dies.

In these cases, both teens had reached the legal working age in their respective provinces, but that doesn't mean early employment was in their best interests.

So who was looking out for their best interests? 

Employment is regulated by 14 governments in Canada, including the provinces and territories, as well as the federal government.

In Manitoba, where Andrew died, employees younger than 16 can't work on construction sites, in industrial manufacturing or on scaffolding. But the 15-year-old was offloading asphalt. Meanwhile, in Quebec, children aged 12 to 14 can work with written parental consent. But 13-year-old Maxime wouldn't have needed consent to work the cornfield, since, as with most jurisdictions in Canada, child labour in the farming industry is almost entirely unregulated.

The inconsistencies, arbitrary regulations and unenforced rules are bewildering.

Admittedly, we have more questions than answers. At what age should a child legally be allowed to work in Canada? Deaths or injuries resulting from safety violations also raised questions of maturity: at what age can a child fully comprehend their rights as workers?

It's not that Canada is free from child labour, but in fact the debate is so murky that the issue remains invisible. We, like most of Canada's jurisdictions, are willing to make exceptions for young babysitters and those with paper routes, innocuous jobs that aren't technically "employment." But strangely, farming is also excluded from employment codes in Canada's prairies. 

"So you can hire an eight-year-old to run a tractor (not covered in the provincial code)," says Bob Barnetson, associate professor of labour relations at Edmonton's Athabasca University. 

"Or, you can simply direct your own eight-year-old to run the tractor (not considered employment)."

Barnetson's research into the employment experiences of Alberta children found that nine-, 10-and 11-year-olds worked in various sectors - most illegally. And according to a 2008 investigative piece in The Walrus magazine, the youngest person to receive workers' compensation in Quebec in 2007 was eight years old. 

[Federal legislation does not allow children under 17 to work during hours they are supposed to be in school.]

But the minimum age and maximum hours for young workers vary by jurisdiction. In Manitoba, workers younger than 16 must obtain a permit from the Director of Employment Standards.

In Quebec, 12-year-olds just need parental consent. And the province doesn't impose maximum work hours. Ostensibly, a 12-year-old in Quebec could hawk burgers for 40 hours a week so long as they aren't supposed to be in school - just not past 11pm. 

If there is a trend amid the discrepancy, it's that provincial laws protecting young workers are becoming more lax. We are in desperate need of an advocate for children working in Canada. 

Further Information: 

• AGE: At What Age…are school-children employed, married and taken to court? Trends over time (Right to Education Project, November 2011) 
• More on children's rights in Canada