On May 23 — more than three years after their Quebec colleagues — the members of the Community Housing Transformation Centre’s Ontario unit signed their first collective agreement. The agreement was ratified in April following a two-month negotiation. Even though the local is situated in Quebec, the Ontario Labour Relations Board certified the Ontario unit in August 2024.
“I want to thank the other three members of the bargaining team — Jean-Francois, Majed and Dawn — for their work towards a positive outcome. We’re very happy to reach an agreement and to join our colleagues in Quebec in being represented by PSAC,” said Scott Stager Piatkowski, member of the negotiating committee. “We look forward to working with them on a second collective agreement in 2026, when both of our agreements expire.”
“We are very pleased with the gains achieved by the negotiating team in this particular context,” added Regional Executive Vice-President Sébastien Paquette. “This first collective agreement will offer them greater assurance and stability.”
Here are the main highlights of the new collective agreement, which drew from several provisions in the Quebec unit’s collective agreement:
- remote accommodations for face-to-face team meetings for personal reasons;
- access to an updated job description;
- stronger language on technological changes;
- employer’s obligation to give 12 months’ notice in case of a return-to-office mandate and to negotiate special return-to-office working conditions;
- a lump sum payment of $125 per month for use of personal internet service;
- three paid floating holidays;
- five paid days of bereavement leave;
- one paid day of marriage leave;
- 10 paid days for illness or well-being;
- a four-day-per-week schedule in summer without a salary reduction, under certain conditions;
- a 4% wage increase by 2025 and 3% wage increase by 2026;
- no waiting period for any greater benefits that the employer may offer other employees;
- a retroactive payment effective April 1, 2025.
The collective agreement expires on April 1, 2026, as does the Quebec unit’s collective agreement.