ENGLISH
• SUMMARY
SUMMARY
• Short Title
Short Title
• Interpretation
Interpretation
• Designation of Minister
Designation of Minister
• National Strategy for Children and Youth
National Strategy for Children and Youth
• Reports to Parliament
Reports to Parliament

SUMMARY

Short Title

Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the National Strategy for Children and Youth Act.

Interpretation

Definitions

2 The following definitions apply in this Act.

Indigenous governing body means a council, government or other entity authorized to act on behalf of an Indigenous group, community or people holding rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. (corps dirigeant autochtone)

Minister means the federal minister designated under section 3. (ministre)

Designation of Minister

Order in council

3 The Governor in Council may, by order, designate any federal minister to be the Minister referred to in this Act.

National Strategy for Children and Youth

Development

4 (1) The Minister must develop a national strategy for children and youth in Canada.

Content

(2) The strategy must

• (a) identify the objectives of the Government of Canada in relation to children and youths, which must include

  • (i) the complete elimination of child poverty,

  • (ii) a high and consistent standard of living for children and youths across Canada, and

  • (iii) full compliance with

    • (A) the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in the United Nations General Assembly on November 20, 1989, and ratified by Canada on December 13, 1991,

    • (B) the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on May 25, 2000, and ratified by Canada on July 7, 2000,

    • (C) the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, adopted in the United Nations General Assembly on May 25, 2000, and ratified by Canada on September 14, 2005, and

    • (D) the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 13, 2007, as it relates to children and youth;

• (b) identify a series of outcomes and quantifiable indicators that align with internationally accepted standards that would, if met, demonstrate that the Government of Canada’s objectives have been met;

• (c) provide an evidence-based assessment of whether the Government of Canada’s objectives have been met;

• (d) outline a detailed plan to address unmet objectives, including a description of immediate actions and preventive measures that can be taken in relation to pressing harms faced by children and youth in Canada;

• (e) identify what resources would be required to implement the strategy; and

• (f) propose mechanisms that, if implemented as part of the strategy, would allow for

  • (i) public monitoring of the strategy’s implementation,

  • (ii) continued consultation with persons identified in subsection (3) on the strategy’s implementation,

  • (iii) the ability to update the strategy to address emerging needs among children and youths or in other changing circumstances,

  • (iv) the consideration of complaints from children and youths about the strategy’s implementation, and

  • (v) parliamentary oversight over the strategy’s implementation.

Consultations

(3) To develop the strategy, the Minister must consult with

• (a) children and youths;

• (b) any ministers with responsibilities that are relevant to the well-being of children and youths in Canada, including the Minister of Health, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations;

• (c) representatives of provincial and municipal governments, including those with responsibilities relevant to the well-being of children and youth;

• (d) representatives of Indigenous governing bodies and organizations that serve and represent First Nations, Inuit and Métis children and youth;

• (e) relevant stakeholders, including representatives from organizations that serve and advocate for children and youths; and

• (f) anyone else whom the Minister considers appropriate.

Considerations

(4) The Minister must ensure that the children and youths consulted under paragraph (3)‍(a) accurately reflect the diversity of children and youths in Canada and their experiences.

Considerations

(5) In developing the strategy, the Minister must consider

• (a) Canada’s human rights obligations;

• (b) Jordan’s Principle, as defined by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and Assembly of First Nations v. Attorney General of Canada (representing the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada);

• (c) the Inuit Child First Initiative; and

• (d) any relevant recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Reports to Parliament

Progress reports

5 Within six months after the day on which this Act receives royal assent, and every six months after that, until the national strategy for children and youth is tabled under subsection 6(1), the Minister must cause a report to be tabled in each House of Parliament that sets out the progress of the development of the strategy and a list of those who have been consulted if their consent has been obtained.

Tabling of strategy

6 (1) Within 24 months after the day on which this Act receives royal assent, the Minister must cause to be tabled in each House of Parliament a report setting out the national strategy for children and youth.

Publication

(2) The Minister must publish the report on a Government of Canada website within 10 days after the day on which the report is tabled in both Houses of Parliament.

Review and report

7 (1) Within five years of the tabling of the report referred to in section 6, and every five years after that, the Minister must prepare a report that

• (a) sets out the extent to which the national strategy for children and youth has been implemented;

• (b) provides an assessment of whether the objectives identified in the strategy have been met; and

• (c) includes any other conclusions or recommendations about the strategy.

Tabling of report

(2) The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting following the report’s completion.