Quebec Construction Commission Launches Three-Year Anti-Harassment Campaign for Job Sites
According to the Daily Commercial News, the Quebec Construction Commission (QCC) has launched a three-year awareness and behavioural change campaign aimed at combating discrimination, intimidation, and harassment on construction sites across the province.
Why the QCC Is Acting Now
The campaign comes as Quebec faces a historic volume of construction projects, and workforce attraction and retention have become critical concerns for the industry. A 2023 survey conducted by market research firm Leger found that 9% of respondents reported being victims of discrimination, intimidation, or harassment, which the QCC projects to represent more than 20,200 workers across the provincial workforce. More strikingly, 61% of industry workers said they had encountered at least one such situation, yet 79% of victims do not report incidents.
The QCC, whose mandate includes ensuring a sufficient supply of skilled workers, identified workplace climate as one of the primary reasons people leave the construction trades. The campaign targets normalized harassment that disproportionately affects women, First Nations and Inuit people, immigrants, and visible minorities. At its center is a French-language YouTube video titled “It’s just a joke,” featuring real comments heard on job sites.
QCC president and CEO Audrey Murray stated that employers and unions share responsibility for creating better workplaces. “Given the volume of projects the industry must deliver, it is essential to act in ways that produce lasting and measurable behavioural changes,” she said.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Compliance exposure is real. Subcontractors working on Quebec job sites should expect increased scrutiny around workplace conduct. The QCC’s three-year timeline suggests sustained inspection and enforcement activity, not a one-time push.
- Document your harassment policies now. If you don’t have a written discrimination and harassment policy specific to site conditions, get one in place before inspectors arrive. The campaign explicitly targets normalized behavior, meaning informal conduct standards won’t hold up.
- Foremen and supervisors are on the hook. The QCC frames this as a behavioral change initiative for the whole workforce. Front-line supervisors who dismiss complaints or tolerate jokes at workers’ expense could become a direct liability for your company.
- Workforce retention is the business case. Quebec’s project pipeline is under pressure from skilled labor shortages. Subcontractors who build a reputation for clean, respectful job sites have a genuine competitive advantage in attracting and keeping tradespeople long-term.
