How Young Is Too Young? Today’s Children Can Consent to a Range of Procedures

Families and youth aged 12 and older line up for a COVID-19 vaccine at Gordon A. Brown Middle School in Toronto on May 19, 2021. The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette

Canadians as young as 12 can get birth control, abortion, cross-sex hormones, and COVID-19 vaccinations without parental consent if authorities deem them informed enough to decide, a situation that legal experts and advocates call into question.

When it comes to vaccinations, Brian Giesbrecht, a retired judge who is a senior policy fellow for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, says teen vaccination is inconsistent with other legal restrictions.