The Legault government’s construction reform reached a key milestone on Thursday with the adoption of Bill 51, which will allow industrial workers to move from one region to another without constraints.
This is a key moment for the CAQ government which is counting on the effects of this law to alleviate the housing crisis. But also to prepare for major projects in the battery sector and achieve its energy ambitions.
This bill is a “flagship” element of the reform of a “nerve” industry, underlined the Minister of Labor Jean Boulet during its adoption Thursday noon.
From now on, construction workers will be able to be more versatile. It will be possible for them, for example, to carry out tasks for which they do not have a skills card in certain circumstances.
In addition, collective agreements will no longer be able to prevent a worker from moving from one region to another as was the case until now.
The project also imposes greater transparency on the Quebec Construction Commission and provides for certain measures to increase the place of women and minorities on construction sites.
During adoption, the minister was pleased to have found a balance between the demands of each party. “We heard people telling us we were going too far, others telling us we weren’t going far enough. I would dare to say that it is probably a good indication and a fair symptom that we have indeed worked to find reasonable and balanced solutions,” he said.
Overall, construction contractors welcomed the reform while unions strongly denounced it.
Concerns for the regions which persist
The Parti Québécois, which voted against, criticized the minister for relying too much on a survey conducted among businesses on mobility. Studies or “convincing” data justifying the changes were lacking, according to the MP for Jean-Talon, Pascal Paradis. “Are the regions going to be winners? We don’t know,” he said.
MP Paradis fears in particular that worker mobility will only benefit large companies based in cities and harm smaller players in the regions.
Conversely, the Liberal Party criticized the government for not having gone far enough in this area. In particular, he would have wanted to facilitate not only the mobility of construction workers, but also that of the companies themselves. “This is a step forward,” said MP Madwa-Nika Cadet. “He could have gone further. »
The bill’s measures relating to versatility should come into force next week. Others, like that on mobility, will only be effective in the fall.