Quebec provincial police officers have been offered substantial raises following an agreement in principle signed between their union and the provincial government on Friday morning. The officers have been without a contract since March 2022.
The new tentative deal includes raises ranging from 26 to 32.9 percent, according to a document presented to members and reviewed by Radio-Canada. This six-year agreement comes nearly a year after 59 percent of members rejected a previous deal that proposed a 21 percent salary increase over five years.
The latest agreement, signed by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) officers’ association and the provincial government, will be presented to the 5,700 provincial police officers for a vote in the coming weeks.
“This agreement will improve [officers’] working conditions, while allowing greater flexibility in the organization of services. We will now let the members vote on this agreement,” stated Éric Girard, Quebec’s finance minister.
In an internal communication consulted by Radio-Canada, union president Jacques Painchaud emphasized that the agreement would “enhance and better recognize the unique national police status” of SQ officers.
Both the general management of the SQ and the union president declined to comment on the agreement in principle. The office of François Bonnardel, Quebec’s public security minister, also stated it would wait for the vote’s outcome before commenting.
The new agreement improves several elements of the first tentative deal, although neither side has confirmed the exact amount of the raises ahead of presenting the offer to members. The union has indicated that provincial officers sought raises comparable to those received by other municipal and national police forces.
Source: The Canadian Press
