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On November 20, 2007, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) turned eighteen. Young people celebrating their eighteenth birthday in 2007 were the first generation born with universal rights of their own. Have their childhood experiences with rights been something to celebrate?
UNICEF Canada took the temperature of this generation and found that while there has been some progress for some children in some places, for too many children we’ve stalled or even regressed in some aspects of their health, development and protection.
Find out what Canadians – including young people – have to say!
Canada ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child on December 13, 1991. 
The Optional Protocol to the CRC on Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict was ratified on July 7, 2000 and the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography on September 14, 2005.
 Overall Canada has done reasonably well in protecting children’s rights and promoting children’s well-being, yet eighteen years on, too many children still fall through the gapsand live below the international standards for children’s rights.
UNICEF Canada believes a national Children’s Commissioner is crucial to focus national responsibility and accountability for the implementation of the Convention in Canada’s federal system.
We need the Commissioner to:
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Monitor the federal government’s implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, conduct independent investigations and make annual reports to Canadians
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Speak on behalf of all Canadian children and youth, listening to them and making sure their voices are heard on the national issues that affect them
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Raise awareness of Canadians about children’s rights
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Work with provincial child and youth advocates and encourage all levels of government and non-governmental organizations to join together to advance children’s rights and well-being
 November 20 is National Child Day! Mark the day and callupon the Government of Canada to establish a national Children’s Commissionerby signing up here.
Update 4,327 signatures registered
Share Your Views
Click here and share your views on what it is like to be a child/young person in Canada and what needs to be done to improve the conditions in which children grow up. Your views will inform the next Canadian report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
"[Children's rights are] extremely important, it gives them a chance to grow up and become something, not grow up broken", views of a child participant in UNICEF Canada report on what it is like to be a child/young person in Canada.
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