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In the Canadian province of Quebec, with an aging population, minors are increasingly being asked to take jobs in shops and restaurants. A bill under study plans to prohibit salaried work for children under 14 years of age and limit the weekly work of young people during the school year.
With RFI correspondent in Quebec, Pascale Guéricolas
In Quebec there is no minimum age to start working. According to a survey, a third of 12-16 year olds are currently working part-time in the French-Canadian province.
More than 51%
“I work two nights a week, I’m a sushi man,” says 15-year-old Louise. Her situation is no exception, nor is Mikel’s, who worked last summer: “He was 13 years old, sometimes he was a cashier and most of the time he was in the kitchen,” she explains.
According to a study by Statistics Canada, the rate of employment of minors in Quebec exceeds 51%. Faced with chronic labor shortages, companies turn to the youngest sometimes very insistently.
“We’ve heard stories of employers calling on schools for a young person to come to work. That’s why the bill was needed to provide a minimal framework and ease that pressure,” says Audrey McKinon of the Educational Success Network.
No more than 17 hours of work per week
The legislation proposed to the National Assembly prohibits the employment of children under the age of 14 and limits the employment of minors during the school year so as not to interfere with their studies: adolescents between the ages of 14 and 16 will no longer be able to work more than 17 hours a week During the school year.
Exceptions are provided for child care or help in the family business. But not in the trade or restaurant sectors. This is not convenient for restaurateurs, who need young people in the summer to better serve their customers.
Other discontents are the horticulturists, who need young pickers: “If there are no young pickers this summer, the growers of strawberries, raspberries and even asparagus will have to close,” says Martin Caron, president of the Union of Agricultural Producers. For this reason, farmers, like restaurateurs, ask the government for exemptions to maintain their activities.
