Can minors work in Canada? The answer is Yes! Minors are at liberty to apply and work in Canada.
Canada is one of the most diversified countries in the world. The county is full of hope and life. There’s a strong economic structure, and the policies foster prosperousness, excellence, and success. No doubt Canada is a center of opportunities.
The Canadian labor market isn’t congested. They’re always jobs available for anyone, and so are minors. Minors are children who are below the age of 18.
Although they may be under the sponsorship of their parents, it isn’t wrong to work and earn for themselves.
On this page, we’re going to center our discussion on minors in Canada, and their nature of work.
Meanwhile, minors work in Canada in two ways. We’ve Canadian citizens, and minors who are international students. While the former has eligibility at all cross-to-work, the latter has a few restrictions. We’ll also highlight them before the end of this article.
Who is a minor child?
Since you’re asking if a minor can work in Canada, it is more appropriate to know who a minor is. Although children across some areas in Canada have different age thresholds to be considered minors. The provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, and Prince Edward Island consider children below 18 years as minors. British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland peg the age bracket at 19.
Generally, a minor is a child who’s not up to the age of majority. It doesn’t matter how much they’ve grown or garnered strength. A person of such age is regarded as minor for many obvious reasons.
The minimum legal age for working in Canada
To be able to understand clearly if a minor can work in Canada or not you need to know the minimum working age in Canada. Having understood who a minor is, then you should be able to understand the following age limits.
Before then, you’ve to understand that the minimum working ages in Canada are different across the provinces. The rules cover both international and foreign students, although there may be exemptions.
- You must be up to 19 to work as a shaft attendant. Being a shaft attendant requires one to use a hoist during construction works
To work in the following places you should be up to 18 years
- Construction works involving underground works, or mining generally
- Window cleaning
- Working in an offshore company or oil and gas industries.
Individuals who want to work in the following sectors are expected to be 16 years and above
- Working for, or in logging operations
- All types of works regarding surface mining, or mine plants. The exception is the working surface
Individuals are supposed to be up to 15 years to work in the following places;
- Repair and management shops
- Manufacturing and or assembly plants companies
- Garages for automotive repairs and shops
- Kitchen, generally for restaurants and other similar places
- Grocery stores where meats are being prepared and stored
- Warehouse for all kinds of soft processing
- Laundry places (at hostels and public hospitals)
- Shipping and receiving areas at the grocery store
- 14 years works
- Offices
- Arenas
- Stores
- Restaurant serving areas.
Above all, minors are eligible to work in Canada. The above age brackets, starting from 14 to 19 are regarded as minors. Their job opportunities are numerous, their pay is also handsome. Do well to seek any possible opportunity if you’re interested in working as a young one in Canada.
Job exemptions for minors in Canada
Although minors are at liberty to work and earn in Canada, for their safety, they’re restricted to certain places. Minors won’t fit for certain jobs for many reasons such as productivity, mental capacity, decency, and lots more.
The following are the job exemption places for minors in Canada;
- Forestry and wildlife
- Shaft attendant, where hoists are being used for construction works
- Construction companies involving underground works or mining
- Working in offshores or oil and gas explorations
- Work in assembling or manufacturing plants
- Nightclubs and parties
For more information visit here.
Note: Unlike adults, foreign minors may not be allowed to use study permits to work in Canada. Although they’re students, and their visas may come in different streams until they’re adults, they aren’t allowed to obtain it.
Such minors can be international students, who are schooling in Canada, or dependent children of temporary residents in Canada. For whatever case, such people are only allowed to work if they have a valid work permit, but not a student visa.
Some minors can work in the province of Quebec even if they don’t have a Canadian work permit.
Conclusion
I hope justice has been done to your question “can minors work in Canada”? The above illustration gives more understanding of the nature of minor work in the country.
Generally, minors are allowed to work and earn in the country. The only difference is that they’re regulated. The regulations are due to many reasons like exploitation, safety and their morals.
Finally, If you’re a minor, or you know a minor who’s interested in working in Canada, they’re eligible to work.
They just need to study the various requirements and get ready to fulfill them before they’re allowed to.
Good luck!
