BACKGROUNDER
CONSTRUCTION LABOUR MOBILITY

Today's agreement on Mutual Recognition of Construction Workers' Qualifications, Skills and Work Experience addresses a set of problems that confronted Newfoundland and Labrador construction workers for years. The construction labour market in Quebec is regulated in such a way that Newfoundland and Labrador workers are systematically excluded while, at the same time, construction jobs in Newfoundland and Labrador are readily accessible to Quebec residents. Many Quebecers were working on Newfoundland and Labrador's mining and construction sites, especially in the border regions, while Newfoundland and Labradorians were excluded by Quebec legislation and the regulatory machinery of the Commission de la Construction du Quebec (CCQ).

Today's Agreement puts an end to this unfair situation. It gives construction workers in Newfoundland and Labrador the access to work in Quebec that the Newfoundland and Labrador government has been seeking. A job market from which Newfoundland and Labrador construction workers were excluded has now been opened up.

Today's Newfoundland-Quebec Agreement on Labour Mobility and Recognition of Qualifications, Skills and Work Experience in the Construction Industry provides all the mechanisms required to make possible broad access to the Quebec construction labour market for all categories of Newfoundland and Labrador workers --skilled workers, unskilled workers, and apprentices - and contractors.

Skilled Workers

Quebec has now recognized Newfoundland and Labrador's trade qualification system (and vice versa) and the two governments have worked out ways of mutually recognizing the skills and work experience of workers in each other's construction trades. This means that in all trades for which the two provinces have counterparts, a qualified or experienced Newfoundland and Labradorian worker will now be considered qualified, and eligible to work without further validation, in that trade's counterpart in Quebec. In the limited number of trades for which no counterpart trade could be found, arrangements have been worked out so that experienced Newfoundland and Labrador workers can achieve Quebec certification in a straightforward and timely manner.

Quebec's agreement to recognize Newfoundland and Labrador qualifications will apply, of course, to holders of Red Seal qualifications (about 6900 workers). It will also apply to holders of Newfoundland and Labrador Certificates of Qualification in all Newfoundland and Labrador trades in which apprenticeship programs are compulsory or voluntary.

Through these various mechanisms, today's agreement provides Newfoundland and Labrador skilled and experienced construction workers with new access to Quebec certification.

Unskilled Workers

Until now, Newfoundland and Labrador construction workers who do not hold a CCQ registration had no possibility of seeking work on Quebec construction projects. With today's agreement, these workers get a variety of options:

-They can now accompany their long-term employers who secure contracts in Quebec.

-In addition, unskilled construction workers from this province can also apply for "cards" that will be issued to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians seeking access to the job market for unskilled "occupations".

-They can also, like Newfoundland and Labrador skilled trades workers, take advantage of the newly created access to jobs in Quebec's small residential construction sector (eight housing units or less). These jobs are regulated by the Commission de la Construction du Quebec (CCQ) and were not, therefore, open to non-residents.

 

Apprentices

Newfoundland and Labrador workers currently enrolled in apprenticeship programs (about 1500 people) can now work in Quebec if their employer secures work in Quebec and provides them with proof of guaranteed employment. They will receive an authorization to work for the duration of the job or jobs involved.

Operation of the Agreement

Quebec has committed itself to processing applications from Newfoundland and Labrador construction workers (and contractors) in a timely fashion-within one day of the initial application -- and to do so through the central headquarters of the CCQ and RBQ, respectively, in Montreal.

A complaints process and a dispute resolution mechanism have been created by today's agreement in order to monitor compliance with the new commitments.