Skip to main content
Back to Bills
OntarioDid not become law (session ended)40th Parliament, 2nd Session

Bill 71 explained in plain English

Protecting Child Performers Act, 2013

Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.

At a glance

Jurisdiction
Ontario Legislature
Legislature / Parliament
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Session
40th Parliament, 2nd Session
Bill number
Bill 71
Full title
Protecting Child Performers Act, 2013
Current status
Did not become law (session ended)
Latest event
Ordered for Third Reading
Last updated
Dec 12, 2013

Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.

Chamber
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Current Stage
Ordered for Third Reading
Latest Activity
Dec 12, 2013
Plain-language explanation
In plain English (our explanation)

Our plain-language take, written for civic education.

Source: By PoliticalData.ca

AI-assisted, reviewed before publishing
Short Version

The Protecting Child Performers Act, 2013, establishes new rules and protections for children working in the Ontario entertainment industry.

What It Means

This Ontario bill, the Protecting Child Performers Act, 2013, aims to safeguard children working in the live and recorded entertainment industries. It sets rules for employers regarding disclosure of employment terms, tutoring, income protection, working hours, breaks, and adult supervision. The bill also addresses health and safety measures for child performers. Many of these provisions will be enforced as if they were part of the Employment Standards Act, 2000, and others as if they were part of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The Act specifies that if there's a conflict between its provisions and other agreements or laws, the rule offering the most protection to the child performer will apply.

What This Bill Does
  • Establishes rules for employers in the live and recorded entertainment industries concerning child performers.
  • Mandates disclosure of employment terms, including script content, working hours, and safety hazards, to parents or guardians before employing a child performer.
  • Sets requirements for tutoring child performers who are of compulsory school age and absent from school.
  • Requires employers to protect a portion of a child performer's income until they reach 18 years of age, with exceptions for unionized performers.
  • Defines maximum working hours, break times, and supervision requirements for child performers based on age and industry.
  • Includes provisions for the health and safety of child performers, including training and the right to refuse unsafe work.
  • Specifies that if a conflict arises between this Act and other laws, contracts, or collective agreements, the rule providing the greatest protection to the child performer prevails.
Who Is Affected
  • Child performers under 18 years old
  • Parents and guardians of child performers
  • Employers in the live entertainment industry
  • Employers in the recorded entertainment industry
Rights, Duties, Or Obligations
  • Employers must disclose material terms of employment to parents/guardians.
  • Child performers are entitled to be present at and participate in disclosure meetings.
  • Employers must ensure child performers of compulsory school age receive tutoring if absent from school for specified periods.
  • Employers must remit 25% of earnings over $1,000 to a trust for the child performer until age 18.
  • Employers must adhere to specific limits on working hours and break times for child performers.
  • Employers must designate a child coordinator and child supervisors in certain situations.
  • Parents/guardians have the right to exercise a child performer's right to refuse unsafe work.
  • Employers must provide training on health and safety procedures to child performers and their parents/guardians.
Important Dates
  • The Act comes into force six months after receiving Royal Assent.
Financial Or Tax Impacts
  • Employers must remit 25% of a child performer's earnings over $1,000 to a trust fund until the child turns 18.
  • Employers are responsible for travel, accommodation, and daily expenses for parents or guardians accompanying a child performer on overnight travel.
Enforcement Or Penalties
  • Parts II, III, and IV are enforced under the Employment Standards Act, 2000.
  • Part V is enforced under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Uncertainties Or Limits
  • The Act does not define what constitutes 'prescribed' persons for holding money in trust or 'prescribed' employees who require a clean criminal record; these details will be specified in regulations.
  • The definition of 'clean criminal record' is to be defined in regulations.
  • Details regarding maximum daily expenses for parents or guardians during overnight travel are to be prescribed in regulations.
Laws Or Regulations Affected
Employment Standards Act, 2000
enforcement

Parts II, III, and IV of the Protecting Child Performers Act, 2013, will be enforced as if they were part of the Employment Standards Act, 2000.

Source: Section 27(1)

Occupational Health and Safety Act
enforcement

Part V of the Protecting Child Performers Act, 2013, will be enforced as if it were part of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Source: Section 27(2)

Education Act
reference

The Act references the Education Act for the definition of 'school day' and requires tutoring to follow the curriculum prescribed or developed under it.

Source: Section 1(1) and Section 7(4)1

Trustee Act
reference

If a collective agreement requires it, money held in trust for a child performer must be dealt with in accordance with the Trustee Act.

Source: Section 8(2)(b)(ii)

Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.

Official text

Process Snapshot

Step 1
First reading
May 15, 2013
Step 2
Second reading
Jun 6, 2013
Step 3
Committee review
Dec 11, 2013
Step 4
Third reading
Date not listed
Step 5
Royal assent
Not reached yet

Vote Summary

No published recorded division

This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.

Sponsor
Paul Miller
Sponsor party or district not listed
Jurisdiction
Ontario Legislature

No published representative vote breakdown

This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.

Official sources

Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.

How this data is sourced