Quebec, formerly alone among provinces for having no minimum age for the employment of children, has tightened up its child labour statutes.
The province’s Bill 19, in effect since June 1, prohibits the employment of workers under the age of 14, except in certain cases. Those exemptions include babysitting, newspaper delivery, and work in summer camps, among other types of work by children. It also exempts many of Quebec’s family-run home improvement stores—but only the smaller ones. “Work performed [by a child] in a family enterprise with fewer than 10 employees, when the child is a child of the employer,” is exempted, Bill 19 states.
