Negotiations continue on day 3 of residential construction strike

Workers at a construction site. (Photographer: Allison Joyce/ Bloomberg)

The Alliance syndicale de la construction and the Association des professionnels de la construction et de l’habitation du Québec (APCHQ) are set to continue talks Friday as the residential construction strike enters its third day.

The APCHQ and the Alliance syndicale met on Thursday afternoon in the presence of a mediator assigned to the case.

Although no agreement was reached on renewing the workers’ collective agreement, which expired on April 30, the two parties agreed to continue discussions.

Unlike in other sectors, pay rises negotiated in the construction industry are not retroactive to the expiry date of the previous collective agreement.

Three other sectors of the construction industry — civil engineering/roads, institutional/commercial, and industrial — settled their agreements before they expired.

The wage increases are eight per cent for 2025, five per cent for 2026, five per cent for 2027 and four per cent for 2028.

The Alliance syndicale brings together all the construction unions, representing 200,000 workers.

Around 60,000 of them work in residential construction.

– This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 30, 2025.