B.C. moves to protect young workers by raising minimum employment age to 16
CBC
The B.C. government has enacted changes to the B.C. Employment Standards Act, raising the general working age of youth in the province from 12 to 16, bringing the province in line with international child labour standards and other provinces in Canada.
The changes, effective Friday, will provide better protections for youth, while also allowing regulators to define the types of employment and jobs appropriate for those under the age of 16, the province said in a statement.
The amendments to the Employment Standards Act were first introduced in the legislature in 2019, following consultations with over 1,700 youth, parents and employers from multiple sectors, the government said.
The move also followed revelations that WorkSafeBC had paid a total of $5.2 million in work injury claims to children 15 years and under from 2007 to 2017.
Under the amended legislation, youth aged 14 and 15 are still able to do many age appropriate jobs the government described as "light work," but only with permission from a parent or guardian.
In some cases, children aged 14 and 15 may also be allowed to do work outside that definition, but only with a permit from the Ministry of Labour's Employment Standards Branch, it said.
The government's website lays out the new age groups and which types of jobs are allowable in each of those. Specifically for youth aged 14 and 15, it defines the jobs that fall under the umbrella of light work as follows:
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