
SÉPAQ workers approve tentative agreement
Unionized employees of Quebec's Société des établissements de plein air (SÉPAQ) have voted in favour of tentative agreements to renew their collective agreement.
The Syndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Québec (SFPQ) announced the result in a news release late Thursday.
The union said 75 per cent of members who took part in an electronic vote over the past few days supported the deal. Voter turnout was 73.2 per cent.
The roughly 2,500 workers had been threatening an unlimited general strike starting at midnight Saturday if the agreement had been rejected.
'We're pleased with this positive outcome for all parties, as well as for Quebec vacationers who will continue to enjoy SÉPAQ's facilities and the services provided by our passionate and professional members,' said SFPQ president Christian Daigle in the statement.
The new contract runs until 2028 and includes pay adjustments and wage increases totalling more than 25 per cent, the union said.
'On top of that are significant bonuses for part of the staff, as well as other monetary and non-monetary gains related to working conditions,' said Patrick Audy, SFPQ vice-president and lead negotiator.
The workers' previous contract expired on Dec. 31, 2023.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French July 17, 2025.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

National Post
10 minutes ago
- National Post
New England-Canada Business Council announces new Canada/U.S. Energy & Innovation Collaboration Award
Article content New prize for premier cross-border energy partnerships and projects is named for the late Steve Leahy, NECBC director and energy industry leader Article content WESTFORD, Mass. — The New England-Canada Business Council ( NECBC) has launched the Steve Leahy Energy & Innovation Collaboration Award to celebrate outstanding cross-border partnerships and projects that exemplify the spirit of U.S.-Canada partnership in the energy sector. Article content Named for the late longtime NECBC board member and senior energy executive, the Leahy Award will recognize initiatives that demonstrate innovation, environmental and economic impact, stakeholder collaboration, and a clear commitment to long-term sustainability. Nominations are due by September 15, 2025. 'Nothing could be a greater tribute to our beloved colleague Steve and to the longstanding mission of NECBC than to honor projects that bridge national boundaries, foster a more resilient and sustainable energy future for North America, and exemplify the deep ties of trade and friendship between the U.S. and Canada,'' said NECBC President John W. Gulliver. Article content NECBC will announce winners of the Leahy Award in mid-October and celebrate them in person at the Council's 33rd Annual U.S.-Canada Boston Executive Energy Conference on Nov. 19-20, 2025. The NECBC Energy Conference brings together more than 200 senior executives, policymakers, and innovators from across the U.S. and Canada to address the top energy system issues, including grid reliability, clean energy integration, affordability, and cross-border collaboration. Article content Projects and partnerships nominated for the Leahy Award will be judged by NECBC according to a 105-point scoring rubric that will consider factors including their positive environmental and economic impact, level of U.S.-Canadian collaboration, collaboration among the public and private sectors and Indigenous communities, use of innovative new technologies/partnerships/business models, scalability and replicability, and long-term sustainability. Bonus points will be awarded to NECBC members and event participants. Article content Please visit to learn more about scoring criteria and how to submit a nomination. Article content The mission of the New England-Canada Business Council (NECBC) is to advance business, political, and cultural relationships between Canada and the United States and to help members grow their cross-border professional networks. Founded in 1981, the NECBC is one of the leading non-profit organizations working to sustain and expand the strong and mutually valuable connections between New England and Canada. Article content Article content Article content


CTV News
10 minutes ago
- CTV News
Air Canada routes within North America to ramp up this morning as restart continues
Air Canada flights within North America are expected to ramp up this morning as the airline continues its operational restart following a three-day flight attendants' strike. The company resumed flights Tuesday afternoon after a complete halt to Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge routes that began early Saturday morning. It said it was focusing on outbound international flights to start. The airline has cautioned that a return to full, regular service would take seven to 10 days as aircraft and crew are out of position, and that some flights will continue to be cancelled until the schedule is stabilized. It is offering customers with cancelled flights a full refund or credit for future travel if they cannot be rebooked on a competitor's flight. Air Canada and the union representing more than 10,000 of its flight attendants struck a new tentative agreement on Tuesday morning with the help of a federal mediator. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2025. Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press


CBC
31 minutes ago
- CBC
Too many offices in Edmonton's government district see developer get creative
The Financial Building nestled in Edmonton's government district was once bustling with downtown workers. But when six floors of provincial government employees moved out, Stromiga Inc. couldn't find new tenants and the offices sat empty for two years. Ronald Benjamin, the vice-president of the development firm, decided to convert those floors into apartments in 2018. Since then, that trend has only continued, with the Financial Building losing tenants like the Workers Compensation Board as well. It's part of a shift happening that's driven by demand for housing, more people working from home and a glut of commercial space in the area. "The biggest change occurred during the pandemic," Benjamin said. "Especially government workers — [they] haven't come back to the office. So that's made this area really quiet compared to what it used to be." The owners of Filistix, a previous commercial tenant in the building, opted to close their downtown location in December, citing a lack of workers in the area that had formed their customer base. Those conditions incentivized Benjamin to convert two and a half more floors of the building into residential space for an estimated cost of $5.5 million. And if the existing commercial tenants move out, he plans to convert those too. Mark Anderson, managing director at the real estate firm CBRE Edmonton, said that along with the work-from-home paradigm shift, the real estate sector has also seen a trend that he describes as a flight to quality, as excess office space means companies are often choosing to move into newer spaces. "A lot of tenants are actually choosing to locate in the financial sector where there's been some quite big investment recently over the last number of years — things like Ice District and other private sector investment," Anderson said. "That has really attracted the lion's share of the tenants." He said it means a "double whammy" for the government sector, which makes up one-third of the downtown office inventory. "When you see such a large push to kind of work from home and you see that office presence shrinking, … it's atrophy for the rest of the market." Work from home CBC asked several organizations in the government district about the return to work and use of office space. The Alberta government said it does regular reviews to see how its office space is used and continues to search for ways to reduce the amount of office space it leases. Most government workers continue to be allowed to work from home for up to two days a week. "Hybrid work arrangements are only available to employees where it is operationally feasible and does not pose a risk to maintaining effective and efficient services to Albertans," a spokesperson for the office of Treasury Board and Finance said in an email. "This is a provincewide policy with less than half of all employees participating WCB did not provide occupancy rate or work from home data but did say there are no major building changes planned. "All of our team members spend time in the office," the statement read. "Each work area has different business requirements and, because of that, we have various work models in play." Alberta Health Services also did not provide any information about work from home policies, but said space planning is underway amid health-care restructuring. Alberta Blue Cross said it has embraced a full hybrid work model, with no set number of days employees must work in office. For Benjamin, residential conversion is just one piece of the puzzle for revitalizing the area. "I think coming back to work is big," he said. "When people are downtown, they also shop downtown, they eat at restaurants downtown." Making the math work Benjamin also acknowledged that conversions are hard to pull off — a residential building is harder to manage and the increasing cost of construction is only making tight profit margins thinner. Both Benjamin and Anderson agreed that the math makes more sense in a city like Calgary because of a city program that gives financial incentives to flipping office space. Despite those challenges, Benjamin said the 1950s building is worth saving. "It's still a beautiful, usable building," he said. "And to be able to preserve it and use it for another use, I think is valuable, even if the economics is not a home run." And with no shortage of people looking for housing, Benjamin expects the residential spaces to be fully rented when complete.