Quebec residential construction strike ends after agreement in principle reached

An agreement in principle has been reached between the Alliance syndicale de la construction and the Association des professionnels de la construction et de l’habitation du Québec (APCHQ) to renew the collective agreement in residential construction for 2025 to 2029.

The strike in residential construction, which began on May 28, is now ending, both parties confirmed Wednesday evening.

The collective agreement had expired on April 30.

The residential sector was the only one of the four construction sectors to have still not successfully renewed its collective agreement. The other three, namely civil engineering/roads, industrial, and institutional/commercial, had managed to renew it before the April 30 deadline.

This agreement in principle will now be put to a vote by both the members of the Alliance syndicale and the members of the APCHQ.

Both will consult with their members in the coming days and weeks.

The agreement provides for an 8 per cent wage increase for the year 2025. For the years 2026, 2027 and 2028, it is an arbitration board that will be called upon to decide, with the given parameters, which are a minimum of 18 per cent salary increase for the total four years and a maximum of 24.35 per cent increase.

The Alliance syndicale brings together the five union organizations present in the construction industry, namely, in descending order of importance: the FTQ-Construction, the Syndicat québécois de la construction, the Conseil provincial du Québec des métiers de la construction (International), the CSD-Construction and the CSN-Construction.

The Alliance represents the 200,000 construction workers, 63,000 of whom work in the residential sector.

The APCHQ represents 28,000 companies involved in residential construction or renovation.

“After long negotiations and three full weeks of walkout, the Alliance syndicale is pleased to put an end to the dispute and submit an agreement to its members for ratification. The great mobilization, the commitment of the members and the openness of the bargaining committee made it possible to finally reach a negotiated agreement,” said Alexandre Ricard, spokesperson for the Alliance syndicale and president of the FTQ-Construction.

“The agreement in principle represents the result of a great deal of negotiation that has been conducted with openness and diligence for many weeks. From the beginning of the negotiations, the APCHQ sought innovative solutions and provisions for the benefit of the parties, which took into account the specific reality of the residential sector and the ability of households to pay. With the agreement in principle, a certain predictability will be in place, allowing employers, as well as workers, to ensure their contribution to the construction of thousands of homes that Quebec needs,” commented the APCHQ.