Criminalize Intentional Wage Theft

AI summary

Petitioners say that between 1935 and 1955 the Criminal Code criminalized intentional wage underpayment and that this protection was removed in the 1955 consolidation, leaving enforcement to provincial civil and administrative mechanisms. They cite recent laws in Australia and New Zealand and argue provincial employment standards lack criminal investigative powers, and that under the Constitution Act, 1867 the federal Parliament has exclusive authority to legislate criminal offences. Petitioners ask the House of Commons to amend the Criminal Code to reintroduce and modernize federal offences for intentional wage theft and deliberate asset concealment to evade statutory wage orders.

AI summaries describe petitioners’ requests and claims. Consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled A historical legal precedent exists in Canada, where from 1935 until 1955, the Criminal Code of Canada explicitly criminalized intentional wage underpayment to protect vulnerable workers from severe economic exploitation; Following the 1955 consolidation of the Criminal Code, this critical protection was removed, leaving the enforcement of deliberate wage withholding exclusively to provincial civil and administrative frameworks; Important modern international precedents have been set, as comparable Commonwealth jurisdictions, notably Australia and New Zealand, have recently enacted legislation criminalizing intentional wage theft to hold non-compliant employers criminally accountable; Current provincial employment standards mechanisms in Canada are structurally limited to civil remedies and lack the criminal investigative authorities, such as search warrants, necessary to counter deliberate asset concealment and the willful obstruction of statutory payment orders; and Under the Constitution Act, 1867, the exclusive jurisdiction to legislate criminal offenses and to authorize corresponding criminal investigative powers required to close this enforcement vacuum rests solely with the federal Parliament. We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to urge the Government of Canada to amend the Criminal Code to reintroduce and modernize federal provisions that criminalize intentional wage theft and the deliberate concealment of assets to evade statutory wage orders, thereby protecting the economic security of Canadian workers.

Government response

No government response is available yet.