In a modern society that views childhood as not only an important part of one’s life but as a fundamental growing stage, the idea of child labour has taken on a severely negative connotation; so much so that as consumers we attempt to remove ourselves from any countries that associate with this practice.
However Canada during the late 19th and early 20th century used child labour as a major workforce and had 80’000 immigrant child workers migrating to Canada largely from Great Britain. The development and use of child labour during the 19th and early 20th century was a manifestation of the need for children to economically support their families, however it was the availability of children from mass rises in British immigration, supplemented by a lack policy in place for the protection of children that created a rise in the use of children for work purposes; despite this a compilation of factors including both changing ideas of childhood and the effects of labour and delinquency , the dangers of industrial work and most prominently the idea of education and its importance had profound effects of the decline of child labour in the mid 20th century. A profound factor that forced this type of labour on Canada was the massive immigration of children during this period from Britain. For the most part these children were from the streets of Great Britain brought over by rescue or missionary groups.
These groups would take children from the streets and sent them to Canada via these rescue programs and from there they would be re-introduced into society into better home, however these homes required funding for taking on a new child and so because no policies existed to prevent children from working, it was of better benefit to the c. .bour in Canada, and allowed for a transition into what we consider today to be normal working conditions and ages for children. Canadian perspective has obviously changed since this time of child labour and its use in Canada specifically, but during this time it represented necessary labour force in order to sustain families during a time of economic hardship.
Through its benefits of supporting families in both urban and rural setting it was a necessary evil in during this time in Canadian history; however changing policies pushing for an educated population and a clearer understanding of the dangers involved in the workforce led to a consensus nationwide that child labour although necessary at one point was no longer necessary and instead a danger to a population which was already falling into crime and unnecessary injury.
