It's 9pm. The kids are finally down, the house is quiet, and I'm standing in the kitchen realizing I survived the t-ball/gymnastics gauntlet on nothing but half a cheese string. I do what any exhausted parent does: summon a sushi platter from DoorDash.

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My dasher arrived looking exactly how I felt. Turns out she is a fellow parent who fits this delivery hustle in after her own kids are asleep just to keep up with the rising cost of music lessons. It's a wild cycle: I'm paying her to bring me California rolls so I don't have to move, and she's delivering them so her kid can master Mozart.

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We've become completely reliant on the "convenience economy" and it's built on the backs of people like her - the gig workers. In professional terms, "gig work" includes someone who is an independent contractor juggling app-based tasks like ride-hailing or delivery. In reality, gig work is the engine that keeps our chaotic lives running, one late-night spicy tuna roll at a time.

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A lot of British Columbians are doing it. Some estimates suggest BC has one of the highest concentrations of gig workers in Canada (around 10% of workers). With the cost of living on the rise, it is no surprise that approximately 35% of gig workers rely on this type of work to supplement their main income source.

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BC is setting the bar for gig worker protections in Canada. The province essentially looked at the gig economy and said: "Maybe people delivering your burrito bowl at 2am in the rain should have at least sooooooome labour protections."

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Since 2024, BC has introduced protections specifically for app-based ride hail workers and delivery workers that are among the first of their kind in Canada. They include

1. Guaranteed minimum wage for "engaged time" at 120% of BC's minimum wage;
2. Per-kilometer expense reimbursement;
3. Protection of tips from deductions;
4. WorkSafe BC coverage for injuries;
5. Pay transparency before accepting jobs; and
6. Occupational health and safety protections.

BC also expressly recognizes that simply calling someone an independent contractor does not magically make it true, regulators and courts still look at the actual relationship.

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Importantly, BC's approach is still evolving. The province is actively reviewing whether the current protections go far enough.

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To me, having some protections in place feels fair when a gig worker's day is controlled by an algorithm, customer ratings, surge pricing, GPS tracking, and the threat of "deactivation".

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