Quebec government engineers’ strike begins

A construction site in Lévis, Que. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Quebec government engineers began their new indefinite strike on Thursday. It will take place every Thursday from now on, in addition to evenings and weekends.

There are 1,900 of them, members of the Professional Association of Quebec Government Engineers (APIGQ)—a large union independent of the major labour federations.

They work primarily at the Ministry of Transport, but also at the Ministries of the Environment, Natural Resources, Municipal Affairs, and Cybersecurity.

Their collective bargaining agreement expired on March 31, 2023, at the same time as those of other government employees.

These engineers also demonstrated on Thursday in front of the Quebec Parliament, as negotiations for the renewal of their collective bargaining agreement have reached an impasse.

“No meetings are scheduled; there is no dialogue,” said APIGQ president Marc-André Martin in an interview.

These government engineers had already staged a one-day strike on May 20 and eight additional days in 2025.

Now, the dispute centers mainly on the allocation of a “sector-specific budget,” with a funding level that would allow for more than the 17.4 per cent salary increase over five years that all government employees received.

The APIGQ believes that, given the infrastructure crisis, engineers—who plan and oversee construction projects—should be considered a priority category of workers and thus eligible to benefit from this “sectoral envelope,” which is intended to fund specific benefits.

On June 1, speaking before the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, Premier Christine Fréchette mentioned that she would soon announce her catch-up plan for infrastructure maintenance.

This prompted a reaction from Martin.

“Engineers are on the front lines: the management, operation, and all maintenance of infrastructure—we’re the ones who plan all of that; we’re the ones who draw up the plans, the specifications, and oversee the work; that is the exclusive practice of engineers. So, necessarily, if infrastructure is a priority, the people who manage and design it must be as well. You can’t have it both ways.”

The Quebec government has already indicated that its negotiating team has the necessary mandate to reach a tentative agreement with the engineers’ union. It declined to comment further.

During the engineers’ strike, essential services are being provided. Mr. Martin indicates that approximately 300 of his members are assigned to these services.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 11, 2026.