Canada has a child labour problem

For the first time in two decades, the International Labour Organization has reported significant increases in the number of child labourers around the world. 160 million boys and girls are engaged in work, including 79 million in dirty, dangerous, and degrading jobs that compromise their health, safety, and education.  

Canadians’ purchases are enabling this terrible trend. In 2021, nearly $48 billion in goods at risk of being produced by child labour and forced labour were imported into Canada. This figure has increased by over 50 per cent in just 10 years. Over 98 risky products are entering our store shelves each year, from electronics and garments to everyday grocery staples like coffee, sugar, and fish.  

For over a decade, World Vision Canada has been advocating for the Government of Canada to take on a leading role in combatting child labour. Last year, thanks to the thousands of supporters who signed our petition and spoke to their MPs, we passed Bill S-211, the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act, into law – a meaningful first step that would ensure Canada’s largest companies report annually each year on their efforts to prevent human rights abuses like child labour and forced labour out of their supply chains.  

The Government of Canada also committed to taking more steps, including introducing legislation in 2024 to help eradicate forced labour and child labour in Canadian supply chains.  This would include import bans and impose stronger measures on companies to ensure they have fulsome due diligence practices to prevent such human rights abuses from taking place in their operations.