Finding a job when you're still in junior high can be hard, and the choices are usually limited to delivering newspapers, babysitting or mowing the neighbor's lawn.
But in Alberta, where the sizzling oil-fueled economy has driven the employment rate to an all time high of 71.6 percent, higher than anywhere else in Canada, the situation for younger workers is a little different.
With an ongoing shortage of labour and the province struggling to fill positions in a variety of sectors, it's not unusual these days to be served by a 12 year-old at your favourite fast food restaurant.
And the pay is not bad, either. In some parts of the province, such as the booming northern town of Fort McMurray, youths who work at fast foods restaurants are making as much as $14 an hour.
A regulation introduced in 2005 has made it easier for young teens to work in the food services industry. The new rule stipulates that children aged 12 and up no longer require a permit from the Director of Employment Standards to be able to work in restaurants. All that's required now is submission of a safety checklist that includes parental consent and a hazard assessment by the employer.
During the first six months after the revised regulation came into effect, only 103 checklists were submitted. However, as awareness of the new regulation grew, checklists began to pour in. As of February, 1104 safety checklists have been submitted to the Alberta Employment, Immigration and Industry (AEII).
"There has been a lot of public awareness around the occupations that adolescents are allowed to work in, and we do know that more employers and parents are now aware of the laws and the rules," says AEII spokeswoman Gwen Vanderdeen-Paschki.
But Vanderdeen-Paschki insists that the new rule was not introduced to solve the province's labour shortage.
"It was not, absolutely not, for the purposes of addressing any labour shortage, or anything like that. All we did was stopped issuing the individual permits, and then we added the new requirements and then the safety checklist," she says.
However, the new regulation has attracted some controversy. Shortly after it was introduced, Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) president Gil McGowan said in a statement: "The question Albertans need to ask is 'how young is too young?' Do we want our children working in kitchens and serving tables at the ages of 12, 13 or 14?"
Last week, after Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach put on hold Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission's plans that could have had kids as young as 12 work in bar kitchens, New Democrat Leader Brian Mason demanded the government stop allowing young children to work in restaurants as well, according to a report by CanWest News Service.
"Will the Premier now admit that his policy of allowing child labour is reckless and cannot be morally justified?" asked Mason.
In response, Stelmach said, "Sooner or later in this province . . . younger people have to learn the value of hard work," reported CanWest.
Dr. Alison Taylor, a researcher in the department of educational policy at the University of Alberta, says there should have been more talks and public discussion before the government decided to lessen restrictions on employment of 12 to 14-year-olds in the restaurant and food services industry.
"[The new regulation] runs pretty contrary to much of the other provincial and international legislation around children at work," says Taylor.
A report she co-wrote shortly after the new regulation came into effect raises the question of whether all children would have the same choice to work or whether there would be "additional pressures" on children from low-income families to get a job.
The report suggests that "high-intensity" work is likely to have an adverse effect on the quality of school performance, and explores whether relaxing restrictions on work for 12 to 14-year-olds is going to decrease high-school completion rates.
For 30-year-old David Chi, who worked part time from junior high through university, being able to work at a young age meant getting a better picture of the real world and providing an opportunity to learn things that are not taught in school.
"They get a better feel on the working field . . . if they're actually working for their money and they're actually more responsible, they'll respect their parents, and appreciate that their parents are working to support the family," says Chi.
He is now the manager of a small family-owned Dollar Store in Edmonton. He currently has one employee who is 14, and has hired others under 15 on occasion. But he impresses upon his young employees that they mustn't let their schoolwork suffer.
"I always tell them 'I don't want this to interfere with your school work so when you have a test or you have homework to do, let me know in advance and I can arrange the time for somebody to come in,'" says Chi.
Judy Buddle, a trustee on the Edmonton Catholic School Board and mother of nine children, believes young people will learn more about life and teamwork if they participate in community hockey or soccer teams.
"These students need time to learn music, drama, perhaps volunteer in the community," says Buddle. "They need time to spend with their families, learning about relationships, bonding, nurturing, sharing, and being a productive happy family member."
She says there are great part-time jobs out there for this age group that will help them learn responsibility, such as babysitting, delivering papers, shoveling snow, or cutting grass—the old standbys.
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