Amazon Shutters 7 Canadian Warehouses, Cuts 1,700 Jobs

Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will close all seven of its Canadian distribution centers in the next two months.

The e-commerce company claimed this move would “provide our clients with even more savings over time”. However, a Canadian union that successfully unionized one warehouse accused the company of closing its sites to fend off organizing efforts in the region.

Amazon employs 250 temporary workers at the warehouses.

Amazon has announced that it will use third-party companies in the local area to deliver packages. Amazon is returning to its business model in Quebec before 2020.

In a statement to the press, Amazon spokesperson Barbara Agrait said that this decision was not made lightly. We offer affected employees a package that includes up to 14 weeks of pay after facility closure, as well as transitional benefits like job placement services.

Agrait said that the decision was made after a recent evaluation of Amazon’s operations in the province. Amazon closed 1 fulfillment center, 2 sorting centers, and 3 delivery stations. AMXL is a facility that allows them to ship large items like furniture and televisions.

Francois Philippe Champagne, Canadian Minister for Innovation, Science and Industry, posted on the social media platform X that he had contacted Amazon Canada’s head of operations to voice his concerns.

Champagne said: “I expressed dismay and anger when I heard in the news that they planned to lay off 1,700 employees and close all seven warehousing facilities in Quebec, it is not how Canadian business is conducted.”

In May, around 240 Amazon workers at a storage facility in Laval, a suburb of Montreal, unionized, making it the first Canadian Amazon warehouse to unionize. Amazon contested the right of the Union to represent the workers but lost to a provincial tribunal in October.

Caroline Senneville, president of Laval’s organizing union. She stated that she “had no doubts” as to the anti-union nature of Wednesday’s closures.

She stated in a press release that this move was “contrary” to the Labour Code and we would take a strong stance against it.

Michael Lynk, a Western University law professor who is now emeritus, is an expert in the field. He called Amazon’s decision “a labor relations Groundhog Day for Quebec.” Walmart Canada faced a similar situation 20 years ago.

Walmart closed its store in Jonquiere, Quebec due to financial difficulties. This was just a few short months after workers in the area were unionized.

The Supreme Court of Canada found Walmart to violate the Quebec Labor Law.