Starting in May 2025, contractors will be able to arrive on Quebec construction sites without hiring local workers, according to the CAQ reform of the construction industry. The Legault government will prohibit future collective agreements from limiting the interregional mobility of workers.
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The project to modernize this sensitive sector was tabled on Thursday in the National Assembly by Minister Jean Boulet. It modifies the principles of regional hiring of workers in order to alleviate the labor shortage and increase productivity.
“We must remove the barriers to mobility,” argues the Minister of Labor, “in the face of the crying needs of workers to build new schools, new housing, but also the major projects of Hydro-Québec and the battery sector. The goal is to facilitate the use of workers who come from outside the region where projects are being carried out.
At the end of the collective agreements currently in force, which expire in one year, the bosses of companies from large centers will therefore be able to assign more employees to construction sites in the regions. Even more, they may decide not to use local workers at all.
The criteria will be simplified for the recognition of “preferential” workers, that is to say those who are authorized to travel. They must only have accumulated 750 hours for the same employer in the last two years. The bar was previously set at 1500 hours.
Minister Boulet predicts that 73% of journeymen will have access to full mobility because they have worked more than 15,000 hours during their career.
This is a long-standing demand from entrepreneurs, who called for greater interregional mobility of workers.
At the moment, regional workers are protected by collective agreements. Large companies from large cities are required to hire a proportion of local workers. The CAQ announces the end of this guarantee.
Jean Boulet is hopeful that this aspect of his reform will be well received in the region. In the past, there was unemployment outside the major centers, which is no longer the case.
Worker versatility
The government is also lifting barriers between professions, another request from bosses. The 25 construction trades are retained, but it will be possible for the majority of them to carry out tasks currently reserved for other workers.
“It’s not an open bar, no profession will be merged,” assures Jean Boulet. He admits to having thought about it, but then it would have been necessary to review the curriculum of the different training courses, a huge project which would have taken years.
A roofer will now be able to completely replace the roof of a triplex without the help of a carpenter, provided that it is a related and short-term task.
More specialized trades such as those of pipefitters, plumbers, fire protection mechanics, refrigeration engineers, elevator mechanics, electricians or crane operators are, however, protected.
Minister Boulet maintains that his reform is one of “compromise”. It therefore also responds to a request from the unions, who demanded the possibility of negotiating a collective agreement and salary adjustments retroactively, which is currently prohibited in the industry.
Construction industry reform
– Ban on union and employer parties from the 1ster May 2025 to agree in collective agreements clauses limiting the mobility of an employee who can be assigned anywhere in Quebec
– An employer may arrive on a construction site only with his employees, without obligation to hire local workers
– A worker will obtain the right to move from one region to another as soon as he has completed 750 hours of work for the same employer over the last two years. Currently, the bar is set at 1500 hours
– Women, indigenous people, people with disabilities and immigrants will obtain the right to move from one region to another after 400 hours of work
– Workers who have accumulated 15,000 hours in total in their career will benefit from full mobility
– Workers will be able to carry out tasks currently reserved for other professions
– More specialized trades such as pipefitters, plumbers, fire protection mechanics, refrigeration engineers, elevator mechanics, electricians or crane operators are protected
– Establishment of a skills recognition system for foreign workers
– Unions and employers will be able to negotiate the payment of retroactive salary adjustments to employees