In February 2025, we informed you in a previous legal update of the government's intention to grant itself special powers in the event of a labour dispute, as part of Bill 89, An Act to give greater consideration to the needs of the population in the event of a strike or lock-out (the Act).
Introduced by Labour Minister Jean Boulet (the Minister), this Act was passed on May 30.
This legal update summarizes the main changes that will come into effect on November 30, 2025.
Services ensuring the well-being of the public
To alleviate the inconvenience caused to the public by the increasing number of work stoppages in major sectors of society, the Act requires the maintenance of certain “services ensuring the well-being of the population” during strikes or lock-outs. It is therefore a new system in addition to the “essential services” provided for in the Labour Code (the Code) since 1982. This new concept is defined as follows:
“services ensuring the well-being of the population”: the services minimally required to prevent the population’s social, economic or environmental security from being disproportionately affected, in particular that of persons in vulnerable situations.1
To illustrate the scope of the concept of “persons in vulnerable situations,” the Minister cited recent labour disputes in the educational services for children with special needs and funeral services sectors. However, this definition is not limited to protecting these persons: the concept of “services ensuring the well-being of the population” could thus be interpreted more broadly.
This new section, to be introduced in November 2025, does not apply to government departments or government agencies, or institutions covered under the Act respecting the process of negotiation of collective agreements in the public and parapublic sectors.2
Determining the “services to ensure the well-being of the population”
The new system will operate in stages:
- Government order: To ensure that services ensuring the well-being of the public are maintained in the event of a strike or lock-out, the government will have to issue an order designating the certified union association and the employer involved, so that the question of the services to be maintained can be resolved by the Administrative Labour Tribunal (the Tribunal).3 This order has effect only for the period of negotiations in progress and ceases to have effect as soon as a collective agreement is filed.4
- Request to the Tribunal: Following such a order, either of the affected parties may ask the Tribunal to determine if they are in fact subject to this obligation.5 This request may be submitted to the Tribunal from the time the right to strike or lock out is acquired, and the parties will be given the opportunity to submit their observations to the Tribunal.6 Like the order, the Tribunal’s decision applies only for the duration of the negotiation stage in progress.7
- Agreement between the parties: Upon receipt of the decision, the parties will have seven (7) working days to enter into an agreement on the services to be maintained and their terms and conditions, and to forward the copy to the Tribunal.8 Without an agreement, or if the Tribunal considers that the services provided are insufficient, it determines the services to be maintained in the event of a strike or lock-out, as well as the terms and conditions of their provision, and renders a decision to that effect.9
It is important to note that the strike or lock-out continues despite the Tribunal’s decision to require the parties to maintain services ensuring the well-being of the public, until a decision or agreement is reached on the terms and conditions of the services to be maintained. However, if justified by exceptional circumstances, the Tribunal may suspend the right to strike or lock out once it has decided on the services to be maintained.10
The new provisions of the Code prohibit any non-compliance with a Tribunal ruling or an agreement. The Tribunal will also be able to investigate when a labour dispute jeopardizes the proper delivery of services ensuring the well-being of the public.
The Minister’s new special power: compulsory arbitration
The Act also provides that the Minister may now end a labour dispute by referring it to an arbitrator to determine the conditions of employment of the employees concerned.11 This exceptional intervention by the Minister is, however, subject to two (2) conditions: the strike or lock-out must cause or threaten to cause serious or irreparable harm to the public, and mediation or conciliation efforts have not been successful.
Once this power has been exercised, the strike or lock-out will end at the date and time specified by the Minister, and the employer must ensure that conditions of employment are maintained, as provided for in section 59 of the Code.12 The parties will have 10 days to select an arbitrator and, failing agreement, the Minister will appoint the arbitrator ex officio.13
The public and parapublic sectors, as defined by the Code, are notably exempt from the application of this special power.14
Ministerial power inspired by the federal system, but with more restrictions
This new exceptional power conferred on the Minister is reminiscent of that granted to their federal counterparts under section 107 of the Canada Labour Code. However, it remains more limited. The Canada Labour Code allows the federal minister, where the minister deems it expedient, to do such things as the minister deems likely to maintain or secure industrial peace, including referring any question to the Canada Industrial Relations Board or directing the board to do such things as the minister deems necessary.
Miscellaneous amendments to the Code
Restriction of the right to lock out: The Act also has the effect of harmonizing certain provisions of the Code relating to exercising the right to strike in public services, to make them also applicable to lock out.15 Previously, the sections concerned only covered the right of certified associations to strike. From now on, lock-outs will be treated in the same way as strikes involving public services subject to the maintenance of services: notice of at least seven (7) working days must be given to the certified association and the Minister.
Priority treatment before the Tribunal: Lastly, the Act also provides that matters involving essential services or services ensuring the well-being of the public will be heard and decided as a matter of priority by the Tribunal.16
Takeaway
The Act’s coming into force will mark a major change in the framework for labour disputes in Quebec. Employers will now have to deal with an expanded system for maintaining services, including those “ensuring the well-being of the population,” and will be required to negotiate promptly with unions on the services to be maintained, under the Tribunal’s supervision.
The Act also gives the Minister exceptional power to end a dispute by imposing binding arbitration of the conditions of employment, without the parties’ consent. This mechanism, based on the federal system, significantly alters the balance of collective bargaining. However, the notion of “serious or irreparable injury to the population,” which conditions the exercise of this power, remains vague and will have to be clarified by the courts.
Several unions have already announced their intentions to challenge these new provisions, which could lead to major legal debates. In this context, employers must remain vigilant, adapting their labour relations strategies, anticipating the potential impact of these new rules on their operations, and preparing to react quickly to changes in this new legislative framework.
The author would like to thank Thomas Iskra-Landry, student, for his contribution to preparing this legal update.
