Media Release

February 1, 2012

First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition – BC Child Labour Project Launched

(Vancouver, BC) Today First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition announced the launch of the BC Child Labour Standards Improvement Project. First Call hopes that through gathering current stories from children and youth about their work experiences, they can fill in some of the information that is missing about children as young as 12 who are working in BC.

The Project involves province-wide focus groups, interviews and a publicly accessible online Youth Work Experience Survey. The public survey is aimed at young workers, parents, and teachers in BC and hopes to capture the experiences of child and youth employment from various perspectives. The Project will inquire about job experience in three key areas: health and safety, labour standards, and impact on education.

“In 2003, the BC government de-regulated child labour and lowered the work-start age to 12-years – that’s the age you can work without a permit or special oversight from government.” explained Adrienne Montani, First Call’s Provincial Coordinator. “Since then it has been next to impossible to find reliable information about how many children are working, where, when and at what types of jobs in BC.”

Background
Since the legislation came into force, children aged 12 and up can work at virtually any worksite, at any time of day and at any task with only the permission of one parent or guardian. At the same time government eliminated the requirement for employers to obtain a permit to employ children between the ages of 12 and 14.  A permit is still required to employ a child under the age of 12.

At the time, advocates warned that lowering employment standards would put children at risk of injury and exploitation. First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition identified the weakening of child labour protections, lowering of the work-start age, and lack of reliable statistics (Statistics Canada currently does not track data on those 15 or under in the workplace) as an urgent concern.

The 2009 research report, What’s Happening to Our Children? A Look at Child Work-Related Injury Claims in BC Over the Past 10 Years, examined WorkSafeBC young worker injury claims data. One of the key findings was a ten-fold increase in accepted WorkSafeBC injury claims among children under 14 years of age over a four-year period following the change in the law.

Research Objectives
The goal of the survey and focus groups is to shed light on the experiences of workers ages 12 to 18 in relation to:

·         health and safety in the workplace,
·         wages and working conditions,
·         the impacts of work on their education,
·         enforcement of, and compliance with, existing child labour-specific regulations,
·         parents’ ability to take responsibility for their children’s workplace safety, and
·         alternate legislation for children in other jurisdictions.

First Call will make recommendations to government based on the findings of the survey, focus groups and other research. This important research is supported by the Law Foundation of BC. For more information and a link to the survey visit – www.nochildlabour.org.
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For interviews please contact:
Adrienne Montani, Provincial Coordinator, First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition – 604-873-8437
or Helesia Luke, Co-ordinating Committee Member – 778-786-2838

Printable version of media release click here.

Articles in the News

Young workers, serious risks
Helesia Luke | The Tyee | November 12, 2010
As I waited for coffee, didn’t anyone see the impending accident that made me hold my breath?

Laws to protect kid labourers too lax: advocates
Kathleen Harris | QMI Agency – The Toronto Sun | September 17, 2010
OTTAWA – Canada is a champion for the health and welfare of children around the world, but some experts say federal and provincial governments could be facilitating the exploitation of minors through lax child labour laws.

B.C. labour laws harm children
Dr. Paul Martiquet | The Squamish Chief | July 9, 2010
How old do you have to be to be able to work in British Columbia? Many people will answer 15 or even 16 years, but they are wrong. The minimum age for working a regular job is only 12 in this province, the lowest age of any jurisdiction in North America.

Child labour injuries skyrocket in B.C. – Jump follows changes to provincial laws in 2004
Daphne Bramham | Vancouver Sun | October 9, 2009
There’s been a tenfold increase in work-related injuries reported by children aged 12 to 14 in the past five years — a period that coincides with the Liberal government having turned British Columbia into the laxest child-labour jurisdiction in North America.

B.C. child labour law among laxest on continent
By Daphne Bramham |  Vancouver Sun | October 7, 2009
There’s been a tenfold increase in work-related injuries reported by children aged 12 to 14 in the past five years — a period that coincides with the Liberal government having turned British Columbia into the laxest child-labour jurisdiction in North America.

Child labour injuries skyrocket in B.C.
Daphne Bramham | Global TV | October 8, 2009
The B.C. government ignored the International Labour Organization’s minimum age standard that has been agreed to by 153 countries that children shouldn’t work until at least age 15 or until after they have completed compulsory schooling.

B.C.’s child-injury rate increases dramatically after law loosened
By Carlito Pablo | The Georgia Straight | June 11, 2009
For some pocket change, they’re getting cut, bruised, their young bones fractured and backs strained. About six years after the province loosened standards for the employment of children, more kids are suffering from work-related injuries.

Report ranks B.C. most child-labour friendly
Canadian Press | March 5, 2004
VANCOUVER — Revisions to the B.C. Employment Standards Act make the province the most child-labour friendly jurisdiction in North America, says a left-leaning think-tank.

Critics slam B.C.’s new child labour rules
CTV Montreal | May 2003 7
The B.C. government has introduced new rules it says will make it easier for teens to find a job. But critics say the changes are a step in the wrong direction.