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Quebec  + Canada + Cross Border News  + Industrial  | 
Aerial photo of an Amazon sorting centre in Quebec.

Amazon to Proceed with Quebec Warehouse Closures Despite Federal Review

Amazon is moving forward with its plan to close all seven of its Quebec warehouses despite objections from the federal government.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne indicated Friday that the government will review its business relationship with the online-retail and logistics giant in wake of the planned closures.

“Members of Amazon’s local team will continue to meet with the minister to discuss our business – as we typically do,” an Amazon spokeswoman told Connect on Friday. “Our plans remain unchanged.”

Amazon is reverting to a previously used supply-chain model that relies on local couriers and businesses to deliver products to customers. The company says the move will provide the same high level of service while providing additional services to customers.

The closures will result in the loss of 1,700 permanent jobs and 250 temporary positions across the province. Amazon has denied that the move is part of a union-busting effort after workers at the company’s facility in Laval, Que., won the right to unionize.

Champagne expressed strong opposition to the decision.

“They’ll have me fighting to make sure that this is not going to go unanswered in Canada,” Champagne told the Canadian Press.

Since 2020, Ottawa has signed more than 200 contracts with Amazon, CP reported while citing publicly disclosed government procurement data. Some of these contracts are valued at more than $5 million each, including a $22.7-million deal for the Canada Border Services Agency and a $12.7-million contract for Health Canada, according to CP.

Champagne indicated that the federal government is weighing its options but declined to say what measures might be taken.

“I’m not going to tell them what I’m going to do in advance,” he told CP. “That’s called negotiation 101,” he said. “Let them reconsider, let them figure out what we might do as a review.”

In a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, which he posted online, Champagne urged the company to reconsider the decision, stating that the lack of transparency regarding the layoffs was unacceptable.

Champagne told CP that the company was not transparent about the extent of the layoffs when he spoke with an Amazon representative.

“We regularly have discussions with officials across Canada to discuss matters of interest,” responded the Amazon spokeswoman in a statement provided to Connect and other media outlets.

“However, when we make operational decisions like this, we generally share the news first with employees and then officials.

“We’re happy to discuss this matter further with Minister Champagne and other officials in Quebec and Canada.”

Public Services Minister Jean-Yves Duclos also criticized Amazon’s move, saying it is “not acceptable to punish workers” for unionizing.

“In Canada, the right to become unionized is a right that is fundamental, and is not only fundamental to the workers but fundamental to the ability of foreign companies, multinational companies, to be able to work with us in our country,” Duclos told reporters.

The closures affect leased sites in the Montreal borough of Lachine and the city’s Longueuil, Coteau-du-Lac, and Laval suburbs. The facilities include a fulfillment centre, two sorting centres, three delivery stations, and a warehouse and distribution centre specializing in large-goods shipments, such as furniture.

The Amazon spokeswoman previously told Connect that the company will work with the properties’ landlords as operations wind down to determine the properties’ future.

Other Quebec logistics operators expect the closures to provide opportunities for them.

Pictured: Amazon warehouse in Quebec.

Photo: Amazon

Connect

Inside The Story

AmazonFrançois-Philippe Champagne

About Monte Stewart

Monte Stewart serves as Content Director - Canada for Connect Commercial Real Estate. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monte provides daily news coverage of major Canadian commercial real estate markets, including Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. He has written about the real estate sector for various media outlets and Avison Young since the early 2000s. In addition, he has covered sports, general news and business for several leading wire services and publications, including The Canadian Press, The Associated Press, The Calgary Herald, The Globe and Mail, Research Money, The Daily Oil Bulletin, Natural Gas World and The Toronto Star. Monte is active in his community as a youth basketball coach and raises funds for such charitable causes as Movember.

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