After years of review, the department of Labour will ban children from working in dangerous jobs in the federally regulated private sector.. Construction workersConstruction workers .Child labour injuries are rare in Canada but do happen..“Young workers in the federal jurisdiction will face less hazardous work,” the department wrote in a Regulatory Impact Analysis statement..“The government will also be heeding the call of stakeholders who have argued young workers need adequate labour protection because they may be more likely to undertake unsafe work practices, accept lower pay, and are often less aware of their workplace rights.”.Effective June 12, no federally regulated private employer like airports, interprovincial trucking companies, or any First Nations business may hire any employee under 18 for a “hazardous occupation” or any job “likely” to impact health or safety..Amendments to Canada Labour Standards Regulations will also prohibit assigning children to night shifts..Of 895,100 workers in the sector, a total of 1,369 are children, mainly at road and air transport companies, according to a Federal Jurisdiction Workplace Survey..Over a ten-year period ending in 2020, the labour department counted 67 workplace injuries involving children..“It is estimated approximately 13% of employees who are under 17 years of age employed in the federal jurisdiction work in small businesses,” said the statement..The new rules are in accordance with Canada ratifying the 1973 Convention Concerning the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment by the International Labour Organization, which Canada approved in 2016..“It is vital and it’s more than symbolic,” said Senator Hassan Yussuff (ON), then-president of the Canadian Labour Congress, in an interview at the time..“It sets a standard for compliance. I think it’s about political will. If the federal government doesn’t make the commitment to get provinces on side, it won’t happen.”.“We know what we have to do to protect young people,” said Yussuff..“The Convention doesn’t magically fix the problem, but it requires that labour ministers across Canada work together to ensure compliance.”.Cabinet seven years ago passed an executive order to ratify a second Labour Organization code restricting the hiring of children under 15 for any job other than “light work.” .According to Blacklock’s Reporter, various provincial Employment Standards Codes permitted hiring children as young as 12..Accident reports compiled at the time by the Association of Workers Compensation Boards of Canada documented fatalities, including a 13-year-old drywaller trapped at a Surrey, BC, construction site, a 14-year-old crushed by a truck box on a sandblasting job in Wetaskiwin, AB, and a 15-year-old road crew labourer buried alive in hot asphalt in Stony Mountain, MB.
After years of review, the department of Labour will ban children from working in dangerous jobs in the federally regulated private sector.. Construction workersConstruction workers .Child labour injuries are rare in Canada but do happen..“Young workers in the federal jurisdiction will face less hazardous work,” the department wrote in a Regulatory Impact Analysis statement..“The government will also be heeding the call of stakeholders who have argued young workers need adequate labour protection because they may be more likely to undertake unsafe work practices, accept lower pay, and are often less aware of their workplace rights.”.Effective June 12, no federally regulated private employer like airports, interprovincial trucking companies, or any First Nations business may hire any employee under 18 for a “hazardous occupation” or any job “likely” to impact health or safety..Amendments to Canada Labour Standards Regulations will also prohibit assigning children to night shifts..Of 895,100 workers in the sector, a total of 1,369 are children, mainly at road and air transport companies, according to a Federal Jurisdiction Workplace Survey..Over a ten-year period ending in 2020, the labour department counted 67 workplace injuries involving children..“It is estimated approximately 13% of employees who are under 17 years of age employed in the federal jurisdiction work in small businesses,” said the statement..The new rules are in accordance with Canada ratifying the 1973 Convention Concerning the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment by the International Labour Organization, which Canada approved in 2016..“It is vital and it’s more than symbolic,” said Senator Hassan Yussuff (ON), then-president of the Canadian Labour Congress, in an interview at the time..“It sets a standard for compliance. I think it’s about political will. If the federal government doesn’t make the commitment to get provinces on side, it won’t happen.”.“We know what we have to do to protect young people,” said Yussuff..“The Convention doesn’t magically fix the problem, but it requires that labour ministers across Canada work together to ensure compliance.”.Cabinet seven years ago passed an executive order to ratify a second Labour Organization code restricting the hiring of children under 15 for any job other than “light work.” .According to Blacklock’s Reporter, various provincial Employment Standards Codes permitted hiring children as young as 12..Accident reports compiled at the time by the Association of Workers Compensation Boards of Canada documented fatalities, including a 13-year-old drywaller trapped at a Surrey, BC, construction site, a 14-year-old crushed by a truck box on a sandblasting job in Wetaskiwin, AB, and a 15-year-old road crew labourer buried alive in hot asphalt in Stony Mountain, MB.
