Minors (under the age of 19) cannot legally sign a waiver and their parent/guardian cannot sign on their behalf to waive any claims they may have or may have in the future against the FMCBC, its member clubs, their club members and FMCBC and club volunteers, leaders and instructors. In this case, the waiver offers no protection and your club or organization will be relying on the FMCBC’s insurance policy against a claim from a minor.
The minor and his/her parent/guardian should instead sign the Acknowledgement of Risk (AR) form, which based on similar forms, the FMCBC’s Universal Waiver and the precedent set in the Wong v. Lok’s Martial Arts Centre court case. An AR form is not a binding contract or release of liability, but it does show the courts that the parent/guardian and the minor were aware of the risks inherent in the activity in which the minor was participating. The AR form also gives the club/trip leader permission to provide first aid and emergency evacuation for the minor if required.
Clubs need to make it clear to their trip leaders that neither a waiver nor an AR form will protect them in the case of a lawsuit from a minor. Both a waiver and AR form are ways to minimize the risk, but the risk cannot be eliminated. Therefore, trip leaders should be made aware if a minor has signed up to participate in their trip, and the trip leader should have the right to refuse allowing a minor to participate if he/she feels that there is too much risk involved.
The AR form should be signed on paper only and no online signing option should be made available by your club. This may change in the future, but for now the reason for this is because the AR form could be confused with a waiver, which could accidentally result in an adult participant signing the non-binding AR form by mistake. Your club needs to make absolute sure that the AR form is only used for minors.