City of Montreal architects’ union files strike notice
Posted October 1, 2026 7:30 am.
Architects working for the City of Montreal will go on strike for two days, on Oct. 13 and 14.
The strike notice was issued on Wednesday, according to the relevant local chapter of the Union of Professional and Office Employees (SEPB), which is affiliated with the FTQ.
This union represents approximately 50 architects with diverse areas of expertise: regulations, construction project management, built heritage, and sustainable development, explained its president, Louis Philippe Lauzé, in an interview.
These architects also provide services to citizens in the area of regulatory enforcement. “This can involve borough-level zoning, heritage preservation, or central city services. There’s also the granting of restoration subsidies—that is, our members evaluate applications for restoration subsidies and recommend funding amounts. So, of course, if there is a strike, we believe these services will be delayed, obviously,” said Lauzé.
If this two-day strike were to actually take place, there would be no essential services.
Wages are the main point of contention, but remote work is also an issue, Lauzé said.
“It’s been more than three years since we’ve had a collective bargaining agreement; we’ve just reached 1,000 days without one,” he said.
Negotiations began in the spring of 2024, followed by a conciliation phase in 2025. Negotiations have not broken down, however, although the union laments the slow pace.
It should be noted that the City of Montreal also had to negotiate the renewal of collective bargaining agreements with other unions, notably the large white-collar union (10,000 members) and the consolidated blue-collar union (6,000 members), both of which are local chapters of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), also affiliated with the FTQ. The City of Montreal is bound by about 10 union certifications.
It reached a tentative agreement with the blue-collar workers union federation on Sept. 21, but the union has not yet voted on the agreement.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
