Quebec has been ordered to boost its pay-out to a man who became a victim of crime in 2010, taking into account the man's under-the-table earnings.
The apprentice electrician was 25 when he was injured in a shooting. He has been confined to a wheelchair ever since.
Because he'd been officially unemployed for a year at the time of the shooting, Quebec's Victims of Crime Fund decided his compensation should be based on minimum wage.
However, the man had actually been working under-the-table for seven months, earning $20 an hour.
His lawyer convinced a Quebec Administrative Tribunal that he deserves compensation based on his black market pay.
Labour lawyer Jean Francois Maltais tells La Presse that this may open the door for under-the-table work to be considered in several kinds of compensation cases, including workplace and car accidents.