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Historic Ontario-Quebec Agreement Resolves Mobility Dispute
Issue 3 - 2006
The Ontario and Quebec governments signed a major agreement in June to improve construction labour mobility between the two provinces.
Under the agreement, Ontario contractors and workers will have greater access to construction work in Quebec, including access to bidding for construction projects sponsored by Quebec government crown corporations and provincial utility Hydro-Quebec. In exchange for expanded mobility for Ontario workers, Ontario plans to repeal the Fairness is a Two-Way Street Act enacted in 1999. This will abolish the requirement that out-of-province contractors wishing to bid on work in Ontario register with the Jobs Protection Office in Ottawa before beginning work in the province. It also ends the rule prohibiting Quebec contractors’ from bidding or working on Ontario government and public sector projects.
“The agreement confirms the mutual interest of both of our governments in treating the mobility of contractors and workers to the greater benefit of both provinces,” said Quebec Labour Minister Laurent Lessard. “Both of our provinces have signed this agreement in good faith, and I have every expectation that both provinces will live up to the agreement’s requirements. We are entering a new era of fairness, cooperation, and economic prosperity between our two provinces.”
According to IU Regional Director for Canada, Fred Vautour, the deal “should provide more opportunities for work for our members and signatory contractors, particularly as it relates to work in Quebec,” since restrictions on out-of-province contractors bidding work in the province will be significantly reduced. Vautour predicts that “with a reduction in all the red tape, workers and contractors will be able to move between the provinces much more freely.”
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