Administrative judges want to strike, Quebec files an injunction

The torch is burning between Quebec and administrative judges. The Legault government is turning to the Superior Court to prevent administrative judges from striking next week. A “scandalous” decision, the judges protest, as an unprecedented strike movement is taking shape.

“It’s a very dark day for administrative justice when a government attacks administrative judges in this way. It’s scandalous!” laments Daniel Pelletier, president of the Conférence des juges administratifs du Québec (CJAQ), which brings together 300 of the province’s 400 administrative judges.

Anger among administrative judges has reached its peak in recent days. The associations of judges from two branches of the Administrative Labor Tribunal got the ball rolling by recently voting for two days of strike action, next Monday and October 7. A decision that snowballed, since judges from a dozen courts* are also preparing to strike next Monday.

Administrative judges have long been calling for an independent system to determine their working conditions, as is the case for other magistrates. However, at present, Quebec is unilaterally granting them the same salary increases granted to government executives.

“Administrative judges do not want to negotiate. The DNA of administrative justice is to settle disputes between the State and litigants. This is incompatible with negotiating their working conditions with the State,” explains Daniel Pelletier.

Administrative judges are also having a hard time digesting the 16% to 34% salary increases granted this month to judges of the Court of Quebec, presiding justices of the peace and municipal court judges. A judge of the Court of Quebec will earn $360,400 in July 2026, while administrative judges currently earn $169,500. Some administrative judges even earn less than the government lawyers who plead before them on a daily basis, they complain.

The Attorney General of Quebec (AGQ) filed an application for an injunction on Wednesday to prevent judges of the Administrative Labour Tribunal, Occupational Health and Safety Division and the Labour Relations Division from striking in the coming days.

During these two days of strike (September 30 and October 7), the judges of these courts must hear 181 cases.

In the eyes of the PGQ, these pressure tactics are “manifestly illegal” and constitute a “deliberate obstruction” of their function. “The exercise of this pressure tactic amounts, for the members of the TAT, to abdicating, in whole or in part, a function or the charge of the Tribunal,” the PGQ argues in its motion, which will be heard Thursday at the Montreal courthouse.

Quebec is also asking the Superior Court to prevent administrative judges from “purely and simply” cancelling hearing days.

M^e Marie-Claude Lavoie, president of the Association of Administrative Judges of the Administrative Labour Tribunal – Occupational Health and Safety Division, says she is “disappointed” by the PGQ’s decision.

“The government is taking away all our possible means of pressure, while they have long refused to offer us an independent mechanism for determining our conditions of practice. We find ourselves in an impasse as judges,” she said in an interview.

Questioned by The Press On Wednesday at the National Assembly, Labor Minister Jean Boulet declined to comment due to the ongoing “negotiation process.”

“The PGQ has submitted a request for an injunction. The reasons are in the request,” Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette simply commented.

The office of the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, has indicated that it does not wish to comment on the matter due to its legal implications.

With Fanny Lévesque, The Press