Unaccompanied minors, in one paragraph
A professional Toronto fleet carries unaccompanied minors under a written protocol: a minimum age (most fleets eight, some ten) below which a child rides only with an adult; a parent's booking on an account with a signed consent form naming the child, the adults authorised to hand over and receive at each end, the emergency contacts and the medical notes; a named chauffeur, fixed for the booking (and for the term on a school run) who has passed the vulnerable-sector police check; the handover rule (the child is released only to a named adult who shows ID, or to the school's office, or to the airline's unaccompanied-minor desk — never to a curb); the text to the parent at pickup and at drop with the time and the receiving adult's name; the no-detour, no-stop rule (the route on the booking and nowhere else); the booster or seat for the under-eights installed at the depot; the back seat always; and the chauffeur's conduct (no photographs, no personal conversation, no contact outside the fleet's channels). The protocol covers the daily school run, the Pearson airport handover under the airlines' unaccompanied-minor programmes, the camp and the sports run, the divorced parents' exchange, and the teen's night out with the curfew; and the passenger safety article's layers sit under all of it.
The bookings are more common than parents expect: the child whose school is across the city and whose parents both work early, the twelve-year-old flying alone to a grandparent in Vancouver, the fourteen-year-old at a Mississauga hockey academy four evenings a week, the children of separated parents who move between two homes on a schedule, the sixteen-year-old with a summer internship downtown — and the trade has built the protocol over years of them. This guide covers the age bands, the parent's booking and the consent form, the named chauffeur and the check behind them, the daily school run, the airport handover and the airlines' programmes, the camp and the sports run, the divorced parents' exchange, the teen's night out, the chauffeur's conduct with a child, the sick day and the no-show, what disqualifies a booking, the fleet's duty, and a worked school year and a worked airport handover.
The age bands
Under eight: never unaccompanied — a child under the booster age rides with a parent or an authorised adult, and the child seats article's seat is installed. Eight to twelve (the fleet's minimum is eight; some fleets set ten): unaccompanied with the full protocol — the consent form, the named adults at each end with the handover, the named chauffeur, the booster if under 145 centimetres or 36 kilograms, the texts, the no-stop rule. Thirteen to seventeen: unaccompanied with the parent's consent form, the named chauffeur, the texts, the no-detour rule, and a handover at each end that may be to the teen themself at a named door (the school's, the home's, the arena's) with the parent's written permission — a fourteen-year-old lets themself in with a key and texts the parent; a sixteen-year-old may be dropped at a named address with a friend's parent named. Eighteen: an adult, and the prom article's and the birthday article's rules for the under-nineteens on alcohol still apply.
The parent's booking and the consent form
A minors' booking is made by a parent or a legal guardian on an account (not a one-off card — the account holds the profile), with the fleet's consent form: the child's name, date of birth and photo; the parent's or guardian's name, ID and signature; the authorised adults who may hand over and receive the child at each end (names, phone numbers, relationship — the other parent, a grandparent, a nanny, the school's office, the camp's staff, the airline's desk); the emergency contacts in order; the medical notes (allergies, medications, conditions the chauffeur should know — an EpiPen in the backpack, an inhaler); the standing instructions (the route, the door, the time, the booster, the school's name and office phone); the permissions (may the child be released to themself at the home door; may the chauffeur speak to the child's teacher; may the child use their phone); and the parent's acknowledgement of the protocol. The form is kept on the account and re-signed each September; the executive assistants' guide's assistant does not book a minor without it.
The named chauffeur, and the check behind them
Every chauffeur on a minors' booking has passed the vetting article's vulnerable-sector police check (the level that discloses the records relevant to work with children — the fleet's standard for all chauffeurs and the absolute condition for these), the fleet's minors module (the handover rule, the conduct, the scenarios — "the named adult is not at the door," "the child is upset," "the child asks you to stop for a snack"), and a probation without minors' bookings; the fleet names the chauffeur on the booking and fixes them — the same chauffeur every morning for the school year, the same for the return from the airport — so that the child knows the face and the parent knows the name, and a substitute (from the minors-cleared roster, briefed from the profile) is sent only with a text to the parent before the pickup naming the substitute. The chauffeur vs driver article says a rideshare cannot do this, and its platforms' terms forbid unaccompanied minors for the reason.
The daily school run
The standing booking: the fixed time (7:35 at the home door), the fixed door at the school (the office entrance the school names, not the general drop lane — the chauffeur walks a child under twelve to the office or the supervised yard and hands over to the staff member the school names), the school's office informed by the parent and holding the chauffeur's name and the fleet's number, the booster installed for the term for the under-eights and the under-145-centimetres, the text to the parent at the home pickup ("Picked up Amara 7:36") and at the school drop ("Dropped Amara at the office with Ms. Patel 7:58"), the return at 3:30 with the reverse handover (the school's staff releases the child to the named chauffeur, who shows the City licence), the no-detour rule (the route on the booking, no stops, no "let's get a hot chocolate," no friend picked up unless on the form), the no-phone-for-the-chauffeur rule (the mount and silence), the back seat always, and the in-car amenities article's water. The hourly or the transfer rate applies and the how much does a black car cost article works the term.
The airport handover
The airlines run unaccompanied-minor programmes (Air Canada's for children five to eleven travelling alone, mandatory, with an optional service to seventeen; WestJet's for eight to twelve, mandatory, with an option to seventeen; the international carriers' — British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, Emirates — with their own ages and fees) under which the airline's staff escort the child from the check-in desk through security to the gate and, at arrival, from the aircraft to the arrivals hall's meeting point, where the child is released only to the adult named on the airline's form who shows government ID. The departure: the chauffeur collects the child from the named adult at home (the ID, the text), drives to Pearson, parks in the terminal's garage (the GTAA permit article's drop lane is not for this), walks the child and the bags to the airline's unaccompanied-minor desk, presents the parent's completed airline form and the chauffeur's ID as the parent's authorised drop-off adult (the parent has named the chauffeur on the airline's form — the fleet provides the chauffeur's name and ID in advance), waits until the airline's staff have taken custody and confirmed, and texts the parent ("Handed over Liam to Air Canada UM desk, agent Sophie, 9:42; boarding pass issued"). The arrival: the chauffeur, named on the airline's form as the receiving adult, waits at the arrivals meeting point (meet and greet article) with the City licence and government ID, receives the child from the airline's escort after the ID check and the form's signature, texts the parent ("Received Liam from WestJet escort 6:15"), and drives to the named adult at the named door with the handover and the text. The Terminal 1 vs Terminal 3 article says which desk, the international arrivals article's customs delay is waited out at the meeting point, and the flight delays article's policy is waived for a minor — the chauffeur waits as long as it takes.
The camp run and the sports team
The summer camp's bus is the norm; the camp's early drop and the late return are the fleet's — the named chauffeur to the camp's gate with the handover to the counsellor named on the form, the duffel in the trunk, the text; the Muskoka article's overnight camps are a day trip with the handover at the camp's office. The sports team — the fourteen-year-old at the academy four evenings a week, the Sprinter for six teammates on a shared account with six consent forms — is a standing booking with the coach as the named adult at the rink and the group transfers article's headcount at every door; the hockey bags are the luggage capacity article's.
The divorced parents' exchange
A child who moves between two homes on a court-ordered schedule — Sunday evenings from one parent's home to the other's — rides with a named chauffeur under a consent form signed by both parents (or the custodial parent with the order's copy on file), with the handover to the named parent at each door, the text to both parents at pickup and drop, the no-detour rule, and the chauffeur's absolute neutrality (no messages carried, no comments, no opinions — the privacy and discretion article); a chauffeur asked by one parent about the other says nothing, and the fleet's record of every exchange (the times, the handovers) is available to either parent's counsel on request.
The teen's night out
The prom article's rules — the parent books, sets the itinerary and the curfew, the alcohol rule is absolute (no alcohol in the vehicle for anyone under nineteen, licensed stretch or not), the chauffeur goes where the itinerary says and nowhere else, a change requires the parent's text, the drop sequence ends at each teen's door with the chauffeur waiting until it closes, and the text to the parent at each stop on request; the birthday article's nineteenth and the quinceañera article's court are the same; and the women travelling alone article's protocol applies to every teenage girl in the group.
The chauffeur's conduct with a child
The child in the back seat always (the front seat rule — no child under thirteen in front, and no unaccompanied minor in front at any age); the greeting by name and the parent's name ("Good morning, Amara — your mum said you have a test today"); conversation if the child starts it and none of the chauffeur's own beyond the trip and the day (no personal questions, no "do you have a boyfriend," no family questions); no photographs of the child, ever; no gifts, no snacks offered beyond the fleet's water; no contact with the child outside the fleet's channels (no numbers, no social media — a chauffeur who is asked for a number by a child says "your parents have the fleet's"); no stops; the phone on the mount; the music the child asks for at a low volume; and the door — the chauffeur out, the door held, the walk to the office or the named adult. The fleet's minors module is written with the children's aid societies' guidance and the duty of care article's standard.
The sick day and the no-show
A child who is not at the door at 7:35: the chauffeur waits five minutes, texts the parent, calls the parent, and — if there is no answer in ten minutes — calls dispatch, who calls the emergency contacts in order and, if the form's instructions say so, the school; the chauffeur does not leave until the child is accounted for. A child who is unwell in the vehicle: the chauffeur pulls over, texts and calls the parent, follows the medical notes (the inhaler, the EpiPen — the chauffeur is first-aid trained and the passenger safety article's protocol applies), and drives to the parent, the school's nurse or the emergency department as the parent directs, with dispatch on the line. A named adult who is not at the receiving door: the chauffeur waits with the child in the locked vehicle, calls the parent and the emergency contacts, and never releases the child to an unnamed adult or to an empty house (a teen with the home-door permission is the exception on the form).
What disqualifies a booking
A child under the fleet's minimum age alone; no consent form; no named adult at the receiving end (for the under-thirteens); a parent who asks the chauffeur to make an unlisted stop or pick up an unlisted friend; a request for the front seat; a request to carry alcohol for a teen's party; a chauffeur not on the minors-cleared roster; a booking by anyone other than a parent or a legal guardian (a nanny books on the parent's account with the parent's form). Dispatch declines and explains.
The fleet's duty
The fleet's promise to the parent is the protocol above, in writing, on the account — its record the text trail, the telematics, the handover log and the chauffeur's file; the duty of care article's standard is the frame and the limo insurance article's policy covers the child as any passenger. The rideshare platforms' terms forbid unaccompanied minors outright; the fleet's protocol is the reason it can say yes.
A worked school year, and a worked handover
The school year: a Rosedale family, a nine-year-old at a Forest Hill school, both parents at hospitals by 7. September: the consent form signed, the school's office holding the chauffeur's name (Grace, eleven years, vulnerable-sector check renewed in June), the booster installed for the term in an E-Class. Every school day: 7:35 the home door (the nanny hands over; "Picked up Amara 7:36"), 7:52 the school's office entrance, the walk to the office, "Dropped Amara at the office with Ms. Patel 7:55"; 3:30 the reverse. One sick day in November: the nanny texts at 7:20; the booking is cancelled at no charge. One no-show in February: the nanny's phone dead; Grace waits, texts, calls the mother at 7:46 who calls the nanny's landline; the child appears at 7:50. One substitute in April (Grace's holiday): the parent's text on Sunday naming Omar from the minors roster, with his photo; Amara's mother tells her on Monday morning. 188 school days, 376 texts, zero incidents. The handover: a twelve-year-old flying alone to Vancouver on Air Canada in July. The parent completes Air Canada's unaccompanied-minor form online naming the chauffeur (Grace) as the drop-off adult with her ID details from the fleet; 8:30 a.m. the pickup from the father at the door (ID, text); 9:15 the Terminal 1 garage; the walk to the Air Canada UM desk with the bag; the form, Grace's ID, the agent's check; 9:42 the handover, the text with the agent's name and the boarding pass; Grace waits until the agent has walked Liam through security at 10:05 and texts again. Two weeks later: Grace at the arrivals meeting point at 5:50 p.m. as the named receiving adult, the escort's ID check and signature at 6:15, the text, the drive to the mother at the door at 7:00, the handover, the text. Two handovers, six texts, one twelve-year-old who told his grandmother about the car.
Unaccompanied minors quick reference
| Element | The protocol |
|---|---|
| Age | Under 8: never alone; 8–12: full protocol with a named adult at each end; 13–17: the consent form, the named chauffeur, the texts, a self-handover at a named door with written permission |
| The booking | By a parent / guardian on an account; the consent form (child, authorised adults, emergency contacts, medical notes, standing instructions, permissions); re-signed each September |
| The chauffeur | Vulnerable-sector check; the minors module; named and fixed; a substitute only from the cleared roster with a text to the parent first |
| The handover | To a named adult with ID, the school's office, the camp's counsellor or the airline's UM desk — never a curb or an empty house |
| The texts | At pickup and at drop, with the time and the receiving adult's name; at the airline's desk and at the escort's release |
| The rules | No detours, no stops, no unlisted passengers; the back seat always; the booster for the under-8s / under-145 cm; no photos; no personal conversation; no contact outside the fleet |
| The airport | The airline's UM programme (AC 5–11 mandatory; WestJet 8–12; the international carriers' own); the chauffeur named on the airline's form; the garage, the desk, the ID, the wait; the meeting point on arrival; no wait-time limit |
| The no-show | Wait 5 min; text; call the parent; call dispatch at 10 min; the emergency contacts; never leave until accounted for |
| The sick child | Pull over; the parent; the medical notes; the parent's direction; dispatch on the line |
| Disqualifying | Under the minimum alone; no form; no named receiver; unlisted stops or passengers; the front seat; alcohol for teens; an uncleared chauffeur; a non-guardian booker |
Booking for a child
The corporate car service page's account (a family account is the same system) holds the consent form and the profile; the engine books the run with the child's name and the named adults in the notes; the Pearson page books the airport handover with the airline's UM reference; dispatch names the chauffeur and sends the photo. Sign the form, name the adults, and the child has the same face at the door every morning.
