A 17.4% pay increase is ‘achievable’ for paramedics, says Quebec
Posted July 7, 2025 4:08 pm.
Last Updated July 7, 2025 4:53 pm.
Quebec says a 17.4 per cent pay increase is “achievable in exchange for concessions” for paramedics who have been without a collective agreement for two years.
Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel reacted the day after the strike by some 3,300 paramedics belonging to unions affiliated with the CSN, whose consequences will be minimally felt by the public due to the continued maintenance of essential services.
Négos/paramédics: Avoir un mandat de négociation ne signifie pas que le gouv doive accepter toutes les demandes syndicales. Il a été clairement dit à la table que le 17,4% était accessible en échange de contreparties – comme pour tous les autres syndicats qui ont réglé. #polqc
— Sonia LeBel (@slebel19) July 7, 2025
The strike takes the form of primarily administrative pressure tactics, such as forms submitted to the employer.
Thirty-five notices of indefinite strikes have been sent in several Quebec cities by unions belonging to the Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux (FSSS), affiliated with the CSN.
They hope to put pressure on the Treasury Board to reach an agreement on a new employment contract. Wage issues are among the main issues in dispute.
In a press release on Sunday, FSSS-CSN Vice-President Lucie Longchamp questioned why, two years after the contracts expired, the government “is still not even able to bring to the bargaining table the same wage increases that it negotiated with all its other employee groups.”
On Monday morning, LeBel stated that “having a negotiating mandate does not mean that the government must accept all union demands.”
“It was clearly stated at the bargaining table that the 17.4 per cent was achievable in exchange for concessions—as it was for all the other unions that have settled,” the Treasury Board President stated on X.
The Minister’s office clarified that “the ambulance unions will be treated fairly, in line with what 99 per cent of employees in the public and parapublic sectors have accepted to date.”
“The agreements reached, which provide for a 17.4 per cent wage increase, were made in exchange for concessions that improves services to the public,” LeBel’s office stated in a statement sent to The Canadian Press.
It noted that several negotiation dates are scheduled for the coming weeks and invited the unions “to continue discussions at the bargaining table.” “It is possible to resolve the matter quickly,” it said.
Other issues in dispute include compliance with work schedules and pension plan enhancements, the CSN indicated.
Paramedics will also be on strike, rotating shifts, with management staff replacing them.
The paramedics’ pressure tactics particularly affect the regions of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Metropolitan Montreal, the Laurentians, Lanaudière, Montérégie, Estrie, Mauricie, the greater Quebec City region (including Charlevoix), Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Côte-Nord and Bas-Saint-Laurent.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
