{"id":4062,"date":"2026-03-31T04:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cpp.hec.ca\/en\/?p=4062"},"modified":"2026-03-25T14:18:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T18:18:54","slug":"labor-disputes-in-quebec-measuring-the-impact-identifying-leverage-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cpp.hec.ca\/en\/labor-disputes-in-quebec-measuring-the-impact-identifying-leverage-points\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor Disputes in Quebec: Measuring the Impact, Identifying Leverage Points"},"content":{"rendered":"

After dominating Quebec news in 2025, the reform of the Labor Code aimed at better addressing the public\u2019s needs during strikes or lockouts risks generating much more noise than results, concludes a new study by the Centre on Productivity and Prosperity \u2013 Walter J. Somers Foundation (CPP)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Effective as of fall 2025, this reform expands the government\u2019s scope of intervention regarding essential services by creating a parallel framework whose boundaries can be extended by government decree. In the researchers\u2019 view, this law will have limited impact. \u201cBy choosing to rely on discretionary government intervention rather than generally applicable mechanisms, the government is missing an opportunity to establish a genuine mechanism for resolving labour disputes in the event of an impasse,\u201d summarizes Robert Gagn\u00e9, CPP Director and co-author of the study. However, Quebec faces a major structural challenge due to a particularly high concentration of labor disputes in the public sector, which is why it is necessary to effectively modernize the Labor Code.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toward an efficient reform of the Labor Code<\/strong><\/p>\n

To identify a path to reform that could effectively reduce the intensity of labor disputes, the researchers compared the ten provincial laws governing labor relations in Canada between 1976 and 2024 using econometric analyses. \u201cOur analyses show that certain legal provisions have a decisive effect on the duration of disputes,\u201d explains the director. \u201cThis is particularly the case with a provision that temporarily suspends the unions\u2019 monopoly on representation so as to allow employees to vote directly on their employer\u2019s final offer in the event of a deadlock in negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poorly defined when it was incorporated into the Labor Code in the early 2000s, this provision does not reach its full potential because it relies on the decision of an administrative body rather than being enforceable, as is the case in most provinces where such a provision is in effect: \u201cSimply guaranteeing access to this mechanism could help significantly reduce the intensity of labour disputes,\u201d explains Jonathan Deslauriers, Executive Director of the CPP. \u201cBy limiting the parties\u2019 ability to unduly prolong negotiations when the conditions for a settlement are met, this mechanism would help prevent the emergence or persistence of protracted disputes, without infringing on employees\u2019 right to strike.\u201d<\/p>\n

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To read more : Deslauriers, Jonathan, Robert Gagn\u00e9 and Jonathan Par\u00e9, Labor Disputes in Quebec: Measuring the Impact, Identifying Leverage Points<\/a>, Centre for Productivity and Prosperity (CPP) \u2013 Walter J. Somers Foundation, HEC Montr\u00e9al, March 2026 (In french only)<\/p>\n<\/div>

Read the publication<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4056,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-public-policy","category-publications"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpp.hec.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpp.hec.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpp.hec.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpp.hec.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpp.hec.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4062"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cpp.hec.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4065,"href":"https:\/\/cpp.hec.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4062\/revisions\/4065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpp.hec.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpp.hec.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpp.hec.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpp.hec.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}