In a few weeks, children aged 11, 12 or 13, whom it is not uncommon to meet in Montreal behind a grocery store counter or in the supermarket shelves where they store boxes, will have disappeared from their workstation. On Tuesday, March 28, the Quebec government tabled a bill setting the minimum age for employment at 14 years.
The text nevertheless provides for a few exceptions, subject to parental agreement: the youngest may in particular continue to baby-sit, provide help with homework, provide entertainment in holidays or even help with odd jobs in the family business like picking apples in the fall.
The Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, has also set the maximum number of hours a week that a child over the age of 14 can devote to a paid activity at 17 hours, including 10 hours during weekdays. where he is at school. ” Up to a certain number of hours, the work is beneficial for the children, for their self-confidence, for the development of skills and competences. But beyond a certain number of hours, it becomes difficult and it affects their school career,” explained the Minister during the presentation of his text.
School dropout risks
Quebec remained one of the few Canadian provinces where there was no minimum age required to start working, when, on the Pacific coast of the country, British Columbia, for example, had raised this threshold in 2021. from 12 to 16 years old.
Imbued with the North American culture that values the empowerment of children through work, young Quebecers, from all social backgrounds, have long been accustomed to these small jobs allowing them to earn a little pocket money, but also , assure some parents, of ” acquire a know-how and know-how which will be useful to them at the time of their definitive entry into working life. However, the labor shortage, which has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic, with 240,000 vacancies in the province, and an unemployment rate of 3.9% (in January) accentuated the pressure from employers on this cheap labour.
According to the latest “Quebec survey on the health of young people in secondary school”, dated 2017, 46% of students in class 5e, approximately 12 years old, work during the school year. To the risks of dropping out of school regularly denounced in particular by the Commission for Human Rights and Youth Rights of Quebec have been added worrying figures on the working conditions of the youngest. From 2017 to 2021, the number of occupational injuries recognized by the Commission sur la sécurité du travail rose from 10 to 64 per year for children aged 14 and under, an increase of 540%.
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