Quebec residential construction strike starts Wednesday

The Alliance syndicale announced that it will exercise its strike mandate in Quebec’s residential construction sector as of Wednesday 12:01 a.m.

The Alliance, which groups all construction unions, confirmed this early Monday afternoon, after its ultimatum expired at noon.

Last week, the Alliance syndicale had given the Association des professionnels de la construction et de l’habitation du Québec (APCHQ) until noon on Monday to respond positively to its request to submit the latest union proposal to a vote of its members. Should the APCHQ fail to agree to submit the proposal to its members, a strike would be called on Wednesday.

“It is deplorable that the APCHQ should deprive its members of such a right to speak. We firmly believe that APCHQ member contractors would have been in favour of accepting the Alliance syndicale’s latest offer in the current context, just as members of other employer associations have been in recent weeks, for the institutional/commercial, industrial and civil engineering and roadwork sectors,” commented Alexandre Ricard, spokesman for the Alliance syndicale de la construction.

“The APCHQ is showing unjustified stubbornness in the current negotiations, by refusing to consult its members to present them with the Alliance syndicale’s most recent offer. Is the APCHQ afraid of the positive response it might get? Who is it trying to protect? Quebec households who benefit from housing work, or real estate developers who line their pockets?” questioned Richard.

The APCHQ justified its decision as follows: “The Association points out that the offer tabled this week by the Alliance is the same as the one previously tabled on April 9, which had already been rejected by 70 per cent of the employers. It therefore sees no point in submitting the new union proposal to them.”

However, the Alliance Syndicale maintains that its latest offer has evolved since APCHQ members were consulted in early April. “When the APCHQ consulted its members from April 7, 2025, it was an offer under negotiation (29.35 per cent over four years) that had been put to the vote. The Alliance syndicale has since evolved its demands and submitted a new offer (24.35 per cent over four years),” the Alliance stated.

Meeting with Minister Boulet

The parties are scheduled to meet with Labour Minister Jean Boulet mid-afternoon on Monday.

However, the Alliance syndicale “firmly believes that the government should not interfere in the discussions”.

The other three sectors of the construction industry settled, namely industrial, civil engineering and roads, and institutional/commercial.

The Alliance syndicale represents 200,000 construction workers, including those in the residential sector. It brings together the five construction union organizations: FTQ-Construction, Syndicat québécois de la construction, Conseil provincial du Québec des métiers de la construction (International), CSD-Construction and CSN-Construction.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews