Initiated by: Zikun Xu from London, Ontario
Whereas:
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
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.
History:
Open for signature: October 9, 2026
Closed for signature: February 6, 2027
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