Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, the month of December often features a well-known magical character: Santa Claus. This famous character brings together many traditions, tales and legends. We’ve put together a few legal scenarios … all of them tailored to the magic of the holiday season.
Santa Claus, his elves and Mrs. Claus use magic to “secretly” observe well behaved and naughty children alike. This helps them prepare a gift list for Christmas Night. While doing what he thinks is best for the children, Santa collects a great deal of personal data. For example, he collects names, addresses and, of course, children’s wish lists.
Not really. Watching children without their knowledge goes against privacy laws, notably the new law 25. If we assume that Santa runs a toy manufacturing company, he’s not allowed to make a list containing personal information without the consent of the people concerned. For children under the age of 14, parental consent is required.
For the sake of the tale, sure. In reality, if the elves worked in Québec or if Santa Claus lived or had his headquarters here, the elves would be entitled to a minimum of 32 consecutive hours of rest per week. Santa would have to give the elves breaks from time to time so they can rest. However, Santa could schedule working hours differently, but he would have to obtain prior authorization from the CNESST [Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail] to do so.
It depends! After all, it is a long journey. Crossing several countries means going through several customs, where you have to show your passport and declare your goods every time. There are speed limits to be respected, even when flying through the sky. For example, even Santa Claus can’t fly at any time, and must ensure that certain weather conditions are met. Which is not always the case on Christmas Eve…
Entering homes without permission to drop off presents and eat cookies that don’t belong to him… Santa’s actions could be considered breaking and entering. He could face criminal charges for doing so. But since he’s Santa Claus, we give him certain privileges that no one else has.
Since 2018, witchcraft is no longer a crime in Canada. So when it comes to performing magic, Santa should be in the clear!