Ten-year-old Kristopher Cadieux and his eight-year-old brother, Clayton, knew they'd have to get their hands dirty if they wanted to make some money this summer.
But the boys didn't realize that their successful worm-selling business could land them in trouble with the city of Cornwall, Ont.
The brothers launched their worm business at the beginning of summer. Through the first half of the season, they dug up and sold more than 1,200 of the critters, earning $250 in sales.
But the business, which the boys ran from their front porch, came to a halt when they arrived home one day to a notice from the city, saying the sales violated local bylaws.
The boys learned the art of worm-picking from their father, Robert Cadieux, who taught his sons how to gather the critters from the ground without damaging them.
"I showed them how to pick worms like I used to do when I was a kid. I taught them how not to break the worms," he told CTV Ottawa.
After collecting the worms, the brothers packaged them by the dozen and set them out in a cooler on the porch, along with a note reading:
"To our customers, Please help yourself to worms. They are $2.50/dozen. Please leave money in cooler."
Kristopher and Clayton also propped a sign up on the lawn, promoting the sale. The boys' parents own a sign-making company, and helped supply the advertisement.
According to Ken Bedford, a supervisor at the city's planning division, the sign was part of the problem.
"Two issues right now are the signage – there were a couple of signs outside—and the activity was actually taking place outside on the lawn," Bedford said. "They need to bring (the sales) back into the house, in a limited area of the house, as well as curb the signage."
The boys have moved their transactions indoors since being warned about the bylaw, but say they miss the old way of doing business.
"(I'm) pretty sad because we were making a lot of money and I liked getting the money and I liked meeting new people and we talked to all our customers when they came," Kristopher said.
The Cadieux family says a bylaw officer told them that this isn't the first time the city has shuttered a child's sidewalk business. According to the family, the officer said two girls also had to shut down their lemonade stand recently.
But some local politicians are trying to end the curbside-business crackdown.
"Let kids be kids. This is something kids do every summer to earn a little extra money," City Councillor Justin Towndale said. "We're going to be looking to fix that and I seem to have the support of the majority of my colleagues."
The city says it won't require the Cadieux family to pay a fine, and that it will discuss the issue of sidewalk businesses at its Aug. 10 meeting. However, a resolution may not come until September.
In the meantime, the Cadieux boys plan to keep digging for worms and pursuing their dreams of making enough money to buy a four-wheeler for Kristopher and a dirt bike for Clayton.
"You have to work for your money," Kristopher said. "Your parents won't just give it to you."
With files from CTV Ottawa.
