As Canada embarks on a massive plan to expand its infrastructure and exports, unions worry the federal government may be trying to fundamentally alter labour rights.

Ottawa is currently consulting unions and employers on potential changes to the legislation that protects more than a million Canadian workers in federally regulated industries.

"They've basically opened up the entire Canada Labour Code," said Christopher Monette, a spokesperson for Teamsters Canada, the country’s largest transportation union.

"When you look at the consultation documents, there are a lot of things there that have been on corporate Canada's wish list, including new limits on the right to strike."

The review comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney pursues an agenda of national infrastructure construction and has promised to double Canada's non-U.S. exports by 2035.

Some of the possible labour changes could see Ottawa redefine who is allowed to go on strike by expanding what is considered an essential service; alter timelines for bargaining and strike notices; and create a new special mediator to investigate when unions and employers are unable to reach a deal.

Canada has seen a significant uptick in labour action following the COVID-19 pandemic, including major strikes and lockouts that have completely shut down national mail, ports, rail, and airlines.

But Monette notes more than 95 per cent of contracts in Canada are reached without labour action.

"The government seems to have bought into the idea that the rare couple of strikes … are now a threat to Canada's new trade diversification strategy and a threat to our supposed reputation of being a reliable trading partner. We don't share that view," Monette said.

The government is also looking for feedback on its use of Section 107 of the Labour Code, which gives the minister sweeping powers to intervene in labour disputes to maintain "industrial peace." 

The federal Liberals have increasingly used the once-obscure piece of legislation to force picketing workers back on the job — a move unions are fighting in court because they say it violates their Charter right to strike.

WATCH | Concerns about Labour Code consultations:

Mark Hancock, the national president of CUPE, said he’s worried the Liberals will use their new majority in the House of Commons to push through major changes to the Labour Code. 

His union, Canada's largest, which represents Air Canada flight attendants among others, defied the government’s order to return to work when the attendants went on strike last summer.

"I respect and I support the prime minister in building Canadian, in building these big projects … But you can't do it at the sake of workers," Hancock said.

The consultations, which were opened on April 17 and run until May 25, were quietly launched on the government’s website and first noted by the Toronto Star.

Unions say the short timeline for the consultation — 38 days — could be a signal the government has already made up its mind on how it wants to reshape the Labour Code.

Labour Code needs modernizing, minister says

But Canada’s Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said her government doesn’t have preconceived ideas about what the changes will be. Instead, the aim is to modernize the labour legislation that hasn’t "kept up with the times."

"It's no secret that the country is under immense stress," Hajdu told CBC News on Thursday, pointing to the economic threats Canadian industries face from the U.S. trade war and other global events. "And there's an urgency to making sure that we have the most modern tools available."

Hajdu said the prime minister has an "ambitious agenda" to protect Canadian jobs and grow the economy, so the consultations will look at how the law can "support healthy, safe and fair workplaces."

"There could be important ways, not just for employers and unions to work together, but for the government to be a better partner," she said.

Hajdu said while the consultations are wide ranging, they are focused on one thing: how to improve relationships between workers and employers to actually prevent strikes in the first place and the need for Ottawa to intervene in them.

Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said the government is consulting on possible changes to the Canada Labour Code with the ultimate goal of helping workers and employers prevent disputes. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Businesses need labour certainty: Chamber of Commerce

Canada’s recent labour disputes in major transportation sectors have made it hard for businesses to plan operations at home and grow customers abroad, according to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

"What we're hearing overseas is that they need to have that degree of certainty from Canadians. They need to know that our ports aren't just going to shut down two years in a row seemingly at random," said Pascal Chan, the chamber's vice-president of strategy policy and supply chains.

"If other countries don't believe that Canada can reliably deliver the goods because we have consistent labour disruptions, that's going to be a significant problem for the economy."

Chan said the goal of the review is to tackle the spike in labour disruptions so they don’t have extensive and detrimental effects on the country.

"We're not talking about a small strike somewhere. We're not talking about all labour across the country. We're talking about a choke point that effectively has an outsized impact on the rest of the economy," he said.

A port terminal in Vancouver during a strike in July 2023. The Chamber of Commerce says the unpredictablity of labour action in Canada in the last number of years has made it hard for businesses to plan their operations and expand overseas. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Labour critics question consultation process

Conservative labour critic Kyle Seeback said he believes the government is trying to find other ways to maintain labour peace before more collective agreements come up for negotiation in "critical" supply chain areas.

"I'm concerned with how they're going to try and do it," Seebak said. "There's actually not a lot of consultation going on. They've already made up their mind."

Seeback said the Liberals' repeated use of Section 107 has "poisoned" labour negotiations, as employers have come to rely on the minister to intervene when workers go on strike.

"We've seen the most labour disruptions in 30 years under this government because they've so poorly managed labour relations in this country," he said.

The NDP has a private members bill in the House of Commons to remove Section 107 from the Labour Code entirely.

"It's almost like the Liberals only allow the right to strike if the impact of that strike is low," NDP labour critic Don Davies said.

"If the result of workers withdrawing their services is that it does have an economic impact, then that should be a signal to the market that their labour should be valued more."

Davies said the consultations propose "extremely, profoundly serious changes to the way collective bargaining works in Canada."

"Canada's collective bargaining regime has been in place for decades and decades and decades," Davies said. "Any government that's serious about reforming or modernizing labour law doesn't pull a quick consultation … without even really announcing it to people."

The consultations also propose measures that could improve working conditions.

The federal government is looking to boost workplace health and safety, especially in high risk jobs; speed up the grievance process to deal with backlogs; and examine training for workers affected by automation and artificial intelligence.

Monette from the Teamsters said unions are open to updating the Labour Code if it helps improve the bargaining process and working conditions.

But he said he worries that's not what's happening.

"I cannot stress enough how much the alarm bells should be going off right now for Canadian workers," he said.