# Amazon closing all warehouses in Québec **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 22, 2025, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264 "2025-01-22T20:02:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/21 "2025-01-24T10:55:05Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > How much money does Amazon lose by outsourcing it all? There’s a lot of outsourcing already. In Ontario, Amazon does most (all?) of their deliveries with generic white vans operated by independent drivers. The goods do typically come from an Amazon owned warehouse. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/22 "2025-01-24T12:41:44Z")
Apparently - Amazon owns none of the Quebec warehouses - they are all leased. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/23 "2025-01-24T13:15:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That doesn’t look like two different things, to me. That’s because they aren’t! Wow, union busting on a vicious level! 😳 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2025, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/24 "2025-01-25T03:50:45Z")
Feds post letter on X, upset about decision. Premier of Quebec, a major business leader before politics, says it was regrettable but a management decision by a business . > **[Canadian government may review relationship with Amazon following Quebec...](https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/federal-government-may-review-relationship-with-amazon-following-quebec-closures/)** > > The Canadian government is demanding that Amazon 'immediately' reconsider its decision to close all its distribution centres in Quebec, threatening to review its commercial relationship with the online retail giant if nothing is done. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2025, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/25 "2025-01-25T04:34:31Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Apparently - Amazon owns none of the Quebec warehouses - they are all leased. Doesn’t matter if Amazon owns or leases. It’s the business operation as a whole that is subject to the union certification. But if Amazon truly transfers the lease to some other business, then the warehouse would likely no longer be included in the certification. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/26 "2025-01-25T17:05:22Z")
Some analysis here: > **[Why a unionized warehouse in Quebec posed a threat to Amazon | CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/unionized-amazon-warehouse-quebec-concern-1.7441043)** > > Amazon has announced plans to close all of its Quebec facilities, laying off 1,700 permanent employees, months after workers in Laval, Que., made history by unionizing. Experts say the move could prompt legal challenges under Quebec labour laws. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2025, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/27 "2025-02-01T13:30:43Z")
Op-ed from a Manitoba labour law professor: > **[Amazon’s Quebec Exit May Be a Strategic Miscalculation](https://jacobin.com/2025/01/amazon-quebec-exit-union-organizing)** > > Amazon may be closing its warehouses in Quebec to send a warning to unions, but it still has to get packages to customers. For a company that thrives on controlling warehouses, this retreat may be more costly than it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/28 "2025-02-12T21:47:55Z")
Reports that Amazon’s delivery times in Quebec are lagging. > **[Amazon delivery times in Quebec double as firm mothballs warehouses - The Logic](https://thelogic.co/news/amazon-quebec-delivery/)** > > Delivery times in Montreal are now far slower than Toronto. Sources say Amazon hasn't subleased any of its warehouses in Quebec, leaving two million square feet of space unused ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/29 "2025-02-13T21:27:48Z")
Add to that a general feeling of boycotting American companies and Amazon may have shot itself in the foot. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/30 "2025-02-13T21:46:30Z")
In the US, there are a few alternatives to Amazon, like Walmart, which can supply many of the same goods. Are there similar alternatives in Canada? ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/31 "2025-02-13T23:27:05Z")
No one has quite the variety and speed of fulfillment. Walmart has a lot of 3rd party sellers but they all depend on other delivery companies. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/32 "2025-07-11T18:03:23Z")
BC Labour Relations Board has certified Unifor as bargaining union for an Amazon store. Amazon says they will appeal. > **[Unifor says B.C. Labour Board has certified union at Amazon facility in...](https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/unifor-says-bc-labour-board-has-certified-union-at-amazon-facility-in-delta-bc/)** > > Unifor says the B.C. Labour Relations Board has awarded union certification to workers at an Amazon facility in Delta, B.C. ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/33 "2025-07-11T19:42:59Z")
Heard on the local news last night, Amazon is building a new warehouse in Ottawa south, they said the biggest yet in Canada, wonder if it’s to cover Quebec. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/34 "2025-07-12T20:06:40Z")
Bit more detail on the BC certification: > [@](#): > > “The board has decided to unilaterally overreach instead of giving our employees a chance to be heard, and we plan to appeal,” Nantel added. > > We asked Amazon to expand on what it meant by that, and are waiting for a response. > > Unifor adds that the LRB ruling “concludes that Amazon’s interference in the union drive was egregious enough to undermine the process and agreed with Unifor that certification of the union was the only reasonable remedy.” > **[Amazon plans to fight Metro Vancouver workers' union certification | Business...](https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/amazon-vancouver-union-certification)** > > After Metro Vancouver Amazon workers were awarded union certification, the tech giant plans to fight back against the decision. Canadian labour law is generally that the employer is to stay out of à union drive and leave it to the employees. I’ve not seen the decision, but based on this news item, sounds like the board concluded that Amazon breached that rule. If that’s the issue, I think Amazon will have an uphill battle on judicial review. That’s the sort of workplace assessment that’s squarely within the board’s jurisdiction. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264/35 "2025-07-12T20:16:02Z")
I think you’re right. The entire point of setting up such labour relations boards was to keep such matters out of the courts. And BC has an NDP government that is not particularly “labour friendly” but knows this certification is big and important to labour, from which the party gets some support. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-closing-all-warehouses-in-quebec/1013264.md?page=1)