Canadian government may review relationship with Amazon following Quebec closures

Amazon ending operations in Quebec.

The Canadian government is demanding that Amazon “immediately” reconsider its decision to close all its distribution centres in Quebec, threatening to review its commercial relationship with the online retail giant if nothing is done.

Federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne took to X to share a letter he wrote to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on Thursday.

• READ MORE: Amazon closing all Quebec warehouses, laying off more than 1,700 workers

“When Amazon entered the Canadian market, it did so recognizing the value of Canada’s exceptional workers,” he wrote. “As a company that purports to value its workers and seeks to be ‘Earth’s best employer,’ I find yesterday’s announcement inconsistent with those values.”

Expressing his “strong disappointment,” Champagne pointed out that Quebec is a crucial hub for the company’s supply chain in Canada.

According to Champagne, Amazon’s decision goes against its desire to be “a leader and strategic partner within Canada’s industrial economy.”

“The decision you announced yesterday is not one that will instill confidence, and it raises questions about your commitment to Canada and your Canadian partners,” he wrote.

Champagne implored Jassy to reconsider the decision, stating that the “large and sudden layoffs are cause for concern.”

Wednesday, Amazon confirmed that it would cease operations in Quebec over the next two months, turning back to the third-party model it had until 2020 for package deliveries.

• READ MORE: Calls for Amazon boycott grow after online retail giant pulls out of Quebec

As such, at least 1,700 regular employees in Quebec and 250 temporary-seasonal workers are slated to lose their jobs.

Impacted employees are expected to receive packages including up to 14 weeks of pay once facilities close and transitional benefits, “like job placement resources.”

The e-commerce giant denies that the decision was made following the unionization of 200 employees last spring at Amazon’s DXT4 warehouse in Laval, Que.

Caroline Senneville, president of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), which represents the workers, called the announcement “outrageous,” but said she was not surprised.

• READ MORE: Here’s where Amazon is shuttering warehouses in Quebec

“I can assure that our legal department is looking into this and seeing what can be done,” she said. “Will they really be subcontracting? We will look into that, and of course, we will be there for the workers and to have their rights preserved.”

Quebec Premier François Legault called the decision regrettable but ultimately said that it was a “private decision by a private company.”

“I’m sad and I can understand that it must be tough for the 1,700 families involved with these decisions,” said Legault. “Amazon is a private company, so why do they do that, how do they do that … the answer must be asked to Amazon. I’m not managing Amazon."