Four Quebec construction workers die: coroner’s inquest begins

Coroner Andrée Kronström began her public inquiry on Monday to find the circumstances and all the factors that contributed to the deaths of four workers on construction sites in Quebec.

The four deaths on which her thematic investigation focuses are those of Vito Fundaro, which occurred on June 19, 2024 in Montreal; of Médrik Lincourt, which occurred on August 4, 2025 in Terrebonne; of Maxime Forget, which occurred on August 21, 2024 in Brownsburg-Chatham; and of Mario Ross, which occurred on April 4, 2025 in Drummondville.

Fudaro died after being struck by a pole that fell from a skyscraper, which had been hooked by a crane that was on the roof.

Lincourt died when the bucket of a mechanical shovel came loose and fell while he was in an excavation for a construction site.

Forget, who was acting as a road flagger, was crushed to death by a backhoe during a reversing maneuver.

Ross, who had been assigned to signaling, died when he was crushed by a truck that was reversing to access the construction site.

In addition to the circumstances and contributing factors, the investigation should also allow for “a broader reflection on the components that influence the health and safety of construction workers,” said Kronström in his opening remarks.

The first witnesses heard, from the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) and the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST), explained the role and operation of their respective organizations in general.

Thus, the Régie du bâtiment du Québec specified that in 2024-2025, it employed 110 inspectors and carried out 14,284 inspection interventions.

Pierre Privé, investigations coordinator at the CNESST, specified that the Commission employs 314 inspectors, including 200 in facilities and 86 dedicated to construction sites. He emphasized that a third of the staff is dedicated to the construction sector (buildings and public works).

He noted that, despite budget cuts imposed on all ministries and agencies, the number of inspectors at the CNESST has not been reduced.

This sector of Buildings, public works comes first in terms of the number of deaths and first in terms of deaths related to an occupational disease, Privé testified.

The CNESST thus recorded 74 accidental deaths in 2024 for the 32 sectors combined, including 16 in this sector called BTP, or 22 per cent.

As for deaths from occupational disease, it recorded 172 in total, including 52 in the construction sector, or 30 per cent. 

The hearings continue until March 27, then for several days this spring, then this autumn.

Several employers’ and trade union associations in the construction industry are attending, as well as government departments and the Quebec Construction Commission, in addition to the RBQ and the CNESST.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews