Open for signatureElectronice-7842 · Parliament 45

Criminalize intentional wage theft

Sign on the House of Commons website

Petitioners ask the federal government to amend the Criminal Code to reintroduce and modernize criminal offences for intentional wage theft and deliberate asset concealment used to evade statutory wage orders, protecting workers' economic security.

Why we would sign this petition

  • It would create federal criminal offences addressing intentional wage theft and asset concealment, enabling criminal investigations and prosecutions where provincial civil remedies cannot reach.
  • It would align Canada with recent reforms in comparable jurisdictions that criminalize wage theft, updating legal tools to protect vulnerable workers.
  • Federal penalties could deter willful employer misconduct and provide stronger enforcement options to secure workers' owed wages.

Why we wouldn’t sign this petition

  • Criminalization may duplicate or conflict with provincial labour enforcement, creating jurisdictional complexity and enforcement overlap.
  • Criminal law focuses on punishment; civil remedies and administrative orders may be faster for victims seeking wage recovery.
  • Proving intent and pursuing criminal charges can be resource-intensive and may be less practical than strengthening provincial enforcement measures.

The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; 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.