Part I: Occupational Health and Safety Act and health and safety measures

The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) sets out the duties for all workplace parties and rights for workers. Section A of Part I of this guideline refers generally to those obligations, and directs readers to the OHSA and its regulations.

Section B of Part I of the guideline is intended to assist employers and supervisors in the entertainment industry in complying with their legal duties under the OHSA and its regulations re: information, instruction, and training; and taking every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to protect child performers.

Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development inspectors are provided a copy of the Child Performers guideline. Inspectors may look to the measures in Section B of this Part of the guideline as reasonable precautions to protect the health and safety of child performers, or may require different measures depending on the specific circumstances of a situation. In any event, it is the OHSA and its regulations that must be complied with as a matter of law and not this guideline.

Part II: Protecting Child Performers Act, 2015

The Protecting Child Performers Act, 2015 (PCPA) applies to child performers, parents and guardians of child performers and employers of child performers. The PCPA sets out the employer duties and rights for child performers. Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development occupational health and safety inspectors enforce sections 4, 6(1), 6(2), 6(3), 10, 14, 15, 17, and 20 to 25 of the PCPA.

Part II of this guideline discusses the above sections of the PCPA. The other parts of the PCPA, enforced by Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development employment standards officers, are not covered in this guideline.

It is the PCPA and its regulations that must be complied with as a matter of law and not this guideline.

Part III: Industry standards

The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development recognises these additional industry-supported standards as part of a broader commitment to the health and safety of child performers, even though the industry standards in Part III of this guideline do not fall within the scope of the OHSA or the PCPA. Workplaces within the entertainment industry are strongly encouraged to incorporate these best practices into their workplace practices.