Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Canada (Ratification: 2016)

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee previously requested information from the Government regarding the manner in which the protection provided by the Convention is guaranteed to children and young persons working in family-owned businesses in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. The Committee notes the following information provided by the Government in its report:

• Prince Edward Island: The Government does not have information tracking children employed in family-owned businesses. Regarding the review of the Youth Employment Code (section 2 of which exempts enterprises in which only members of the family are employed), the Comprehensive Review Panel did not recommend removing the exemption related to family-owned businesses, but recommended narrowing the scope of this exemption and indicating that it is still subject to section 4 (prohibition of employing a young person in employment that is likely to be harmful to health, safety, morals or physical development). Additional work on this was anticipated for late 2024 or 2025.
• Saskatchewan: The Government does not have information on the number of children employed in family-owned businesses. The review of the Employment Act began in August 2023 and is ongoing.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on: (i) the progress made by Prince Edward Island in reviewing the Youth Employment Code, specifically section 2; and (ii) the progress made by Saskatchewan in reviewing the relevant employment standards provisions, and whether this review will address the issue of including family-owned businesses and enterprises in the scope of application of those standards. Noting that information is not currently available on the number of children employed in family-owned businesses in these provinces, the Committee encourages the Government to take measures to collect data on this topic and to provide this information in the near future.

Article 8. Artistic performances. Noting that no information was provided in this regard, the Committee once again requests the Governments of Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebecto provide information on the application in practice of the provisions of the relevant collective agreements regulating the working conditions of children engaged in artistic performances. This information should include statistics on the employment of children and young persons in artistic performances in these provinces, extracts from the reports of the inspection services and information on the number and nature of the contraventions reported.

Application of the Convention in practice. Following its previous comments, the Committee takes note of the data provided by the Government from the Labour Force Statistics Table of Statistics Canada. It notes, however, that the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations on the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of Canada (CRC/C/CAN/CO/5-6, 23 June 2022), called on the Government to take steps to establish a unified mechanism for systematic data collection on the incidences of hazardous child labour and working conditions, disaggregated by age, sex, geographical location and socio-economic background, as a form of public accountability for protection of the rights of children. The Committee strongly encourages the Government to take measures to: (i) ensure that sufficient and accurate data on the situation of child labour in Canada is collected and made available; (ii) share the information collected, including specific data on the number of children and young persons below the minimum age of 16 years who are engaged in economic activities and those over 16 engaged in hazardous work; and (iii) share statistics relating to the nature, scope and trends of their work.