Residential construction: APCHQ says no to Alliance syndicale’s final offer

A construction worker is seen working on the site of a new condo development in Montreal, Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Threats of a strike in the residential construction sector are looming, with the Association des professionnels de la construction et de l’habitation du Québec (APCHQ) rejecting the Alliance syndicale’s request that it present contractor members with their latest offer.

The Alliance syndicale, which represents 200,000 construction workers through its five member union organizations, met the press in Montreal on Wednesday to indicate that it had just presented its “final offer” to the employers’ association.

It urged the APCHQ to submit it to its members.

Alliance syndicale spokesperson Alexandre Ricard pointed out that the five unions already have a strike mandate, and they are ready to exercise it in the event of a negative response from the APCHQ.

Though a strike mandate could have been exercised on Wednesday morning, Ricard noted that it wasn’t.

The Alliance said it preferred to present its last offer to the employers’ association.

The APCHQ responded within an hour and a half by saying that the union’s proposal was not financially realistic.

“The union’s current demands do not take into account households’ ability to pay, especially in the context of the housing crisis. It should be remembered that labour costs account for between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of the costs paid by consumers. This is an affordability issue. For the APCHQ, it is vital to protect Quebecers’ wallets,” the APCHQ said.

“Construction wages were already lower in the residential sector than in other construction sectors, depending on the trade, and now that the other three construction sectors have renewed their collective agreements, this gap has widened even further,” Ricard said.

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

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 21, 2025.