Amazon announces the closure of seven warehouses in Quebec, resulting in the loss of 1,700 jobs.
Amazon announced Wednesday that it will shut down all seven of its warehouses in Quebec within the next two months, resulting in the loss of approximately 1,700 permanent full-time jobs and impacting 250 temporary employees in the greater Montreal area.
The e-commerce giant cited a recent operational review as the reason for the closures and said the decision would lead to “even more savings to our customers over the long run.” Amazon plans to rely on local third-party companies for package deliveries, reverting to a model it used in Quebec prior to 2020.
“This decision wasn’t made lightly, and we’re offering impacted employees a package that includes up to 14 weeks’ pay after facilities close and transitional benefits, like job placement resources,” said Amazon spokesperson Barbara Agrait.
The closures include one fulfillment center, two sorting centers, three delivery stations, and an AMXL facility, which specializes in shipping large items like furniture and TVs.
The move has drawn criticism from both labor advocates and Canadian officials. François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, expressed frustration on social media, saying he had contacted Amazon Canada’s leadership to object to the sudden decision. “This is not the way business is done in Canada,” Champagne wrote.
The closures come just months after approximately 240 workers at an Amazon warehouse in Laval, a Montreal suburb, unionized, becoming the first of the company’s Canadian warehouses to do so. The union’s president, Caroline Senneville, accused Amazon of targeting Quebec workers in an anti-union effort, calling the closures “a slap in the face for all Quebec workers.”
“This move runs counter to the provisions of the Labour Code, and we’ll take a firm stand against it,” Senneville said in a statement.
Michael Lynk, a professor emeritus of law at Western University, likened Amazon’s actions to Walmart Canada’s controversial closure of a Jonquière store 20 years ago, just months after workers unionized. In that case, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Walmart had violated Quebec labor law.
The union representing the Laval workers indicated that they plan to challenge Amazon’s actions under similar legal frameworks.
