Amazon said Wednesday it is closing all of its warehouses and logistics operations in the Canadian province of Quebec where unions have taken place at one of its facilities and will lay off 1,700 employees.
The closure represents a U-turn from Amazon’s recent investment in the province. The company opened three delivery stations in 2021 and one last year. It had a small fulfillment center in Quebec and two warehouses that processed packages.
All told, the investments totaled about 2 million square feet of operations, according to an estimate by Montreal-based warehousing industry consultant Mark Wolfratt. Conducted extensive research on Amazon’s logistics network.
Amazon said it was closing the seven facilities “to provide our customers with the same great service and greater savings over the long term,” according to a statement from company spokeswoman Barbara Agright.
Amazon will still serve Quebec customers by returning to its operational model from before 2020, when facilities in neighboring provinces prepare packages that are then taken to Quebec by third-party delivery companies.
Amazon’s first union in Canada consists of about 230 warehouse workers in Laval, north of Montreal, after they unionized in May. But the company challenged the unionization effort before a provincial labor tribunal. It argued that union certification should be revoked because workers signed union cards to indicate their support rather than vote in secret ballots. The tribunal ruled against Amazon in October, just before the peak holiday shopping season.
Amazon said litigation over the matter is ongoing.
With the Quebec shutdown, “they made it very clear that we don’t want this expansion,” Mr. Wolfrath said, referring to the union’s efforts. The company has more than 46,000 corporate and operations employees in Canada.
François-Philippe Champagne, federal innovation minister, said a post At X he expressed his frustrations to the head of Amazon Canada.
“This is not how business is done in Canada,” he said.
The Confederation des Syndicates Nationsaux, a union representing the workers, said it was informed of the closure in an email from an Amazon lawyer this morning. Confederation president Carolyn Senville said in a statement that the company had stifled their union drive since it began three years ago, with actions she called “disguised dismissals”.
“It’s a slap in the face to all workers in Quebec,” he said.
Amazon denied claims from the union that the firings were unfair.
The Montreal metropolitan area has about 4.5 million residents, making it larger than the greater Seattle area. Pulling operations out of a major population center runs counter to what Amazon has said has been a central driver of success in its operations in recent years: putting more products closer to customers to enable faster delivery. This, Amazon has repeatedly said, lowers delivery costs and makes customers order more frequently.
Amazon hasn’t abandoned direct operations from a large North American population center in years, though it did so more than a dozen years ago. Playing hardball regularly Along with states that tried to collect taxes on online sales.
Walmart and other retailers have struggled in the past Establishing a logistics foothold In Quebec, where roughly two out of every five workers belong to a union. This is the highest rate among Canadian provinces, according to Official informationAnd nearly four times more than the United States.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault said Amazon’s move was “a private decision by a private company.”
“I understand that it must be difficult for the 1,700 families involved,” Mr. Legault told reporters at a news conference Wednesday, focusing most of his remarks on the need for Quebecers to gather and buy local products in response. President Trump’s Tariff Threat.
Provincial Labor Minister Jean Bullet said workers affected by the warehouse closures would receive help from the government to find new jobs.
