As students start returning to classes across the province, Quebec's rule to limit the number of hours teens can work during the school year is coming into effect.
As announced last March by Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet, the law limits working hours for teens aged 14-16 to 17 hours a week with a maximum of 10 hours of work on weekdays and seven hours on the weekend. It also set the minimum legal working age at 14.
Boulet says he is convinced the law will help students succeed academically.
At a news conference on Wednesday, alongside representatives from the education and business sectors, Boulet defended the new rule which will come into effect Sept. 1.
"Young people's primary job is to be students," said Boulet. "We will see the benefits and advantages of this new rule."
The law has two goals: keep kids in school and protect them from workplace injuries.
Boulet says statistics show that nearly a third of teenagers who work more than 16 hours a week drop out of school. Between 2017 and 2022, he said, the number of work accidents involving youth skyrocketed, although he did not offer detailed figures.
Boulet says the government studied approaches taken by other countries and looked at statistics about teens and school-work balance before deciding on the 17-hour work week.
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