Enacting change: a case study of Canada’s 1984 youth justice minimum age legislation

This article examines how Canada’s minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR), set at 12 years under the Young Offenders Act in 1984, was enacted and sustained, offering lessons for contemporary global reform related to youth justice minimum age thresholds. Drawing on 22 semi-structured interviews with Canadian experts in law, health, education, child welfare, and youth justice, we explored the policy context, motivations, and processes that shaped this landmark reform. We identified six themes as key to understanding how the law passed and took root across jurisdictions: a preventative paradigm, flow of funding, political and provincial negotiation, public hesitancy, implementation pathways, and persistent inequities. Participants described the 1984 law as a turning point that reframed problematic child behavior as a developmental and social issue necessitating support rather than a matter for prosecution and punishment. Canada’s experience underscores how political will, intergovernmental cooperation, and investment in preventive systems can enable durable youth justice reform. Findings provide insight into the policy conditions and strategic framing that may facilitate similar shifts in other countries working to raise the MACR in line with United Nations recommendations.