It’s annual vacation time for the vast majority of construction workers. Since Friday noon, and until August 5 inclusively, more than 150,000 employees in the sector are on leave. But a forgotten part of the industry will continue to work during this time.
A fifth of workers in the sector will practice their trade during this annual break, according to the Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ).
Stephane is one of them. He works on a civil engineering construction site in the city center that will operate all summer, without exception.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, THE PRESS
A building under construction in Montreal
The civil engineering sector is not affected by this mandatory holiday in July. Stéphane will therefore take his holidays in the winter.
“It still takes people to work,” says the one who enjoys working on the site in the summer. “We have air conditioning, lots of water. Everyone takes care of each other,” he explains.
Daniel Saint-Pierre, who also works on a civil engineering site, arrived in the construction sector only two weeks ago, after 34 years of working in safety. Between his two jobs, he only had two days off, which he used to move house.
“I’m not used to the heat yet,” he says. It is therefore with a touch of jealousy that he watches 80% of workers in the sector go on vacation.
In the hope “that it will be less hot”
Other than civil engineering, roads are not affected by the obligation to close construction sites. Emergency, maintenance and repair, and renovation and modification work may also continue. Ditto for the construction of new light residences.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, THE PRESS
Cones in a Montreal street
In total, more than 38,000 employees in the sector continue to work during the two mythical weeks, estimates the CCQ.
For his part, Mario Richer will only have one week of vacation, which will begin next Friday. “I might have liked to have had two weeks!” “, he says, laughing.
Mr. Richer plans to take the opportunity to decompress and recover from the summer, which has proven difficult due to the humid heat that has lasted for several weeks. When he returns from vacation, he hopes “that it will be less hot”!
A total of 192,000 vacation checks were given by the CCQ to construction workers in Quebec, totaling nearly $617 million, or 12% more than last year, when $553 million was paid to workers. This is explained by an increase in the total hours worked declared, which amounted to 210.2 million in 2022, a record.