Amazon.com Inc (Nasdaq: AMZN) will withdraw entirely from Quebec, shutting down its warehouse network in an unprecedented retreat that affects 1,700 workers, the e-commerce giant announced Wednesday.
The company will dismantle its two million square feet of operations across seven facilities, abandoning a market of 4.5 million people in the Montreal metropolitan area – a population larger than greater Seattle, Amazon’s home base.
The decision comes just eight months after workers at Amazon’s Laval facility secured the company’s first union foothold in Canada. While spokesperson Barbara Agrait said Amazon would maintain service through neighboring provinces’ facilities, industry expert Marc Wulfraat viewed the move as a clear anti-union signal.
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“The message couldn’t be clearer – they’re cutting off an entire province to prevent unionization from spreading,” Wulfraat said. Quebec’s 40% unionization rate stands as Canada’s highest, dwarfing the US rate.
The withdrawal marks a striking reversal of Amazon’s core strategy of positioning warehouses near population centers. The company had aggressively expanded its Quebec presence since 2020, opening multiple delivery stations and sorting centers.
Canadian officials swiftly condemned the move. “This approach has no place in Canadian business,” Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne wrote on X.
Union leaders discovered the closure plans through a lawyer’s email Wednesday morning. “Amazon has fought our organizing efforts for three years. Now they’re punishing an entire province,” said Caroline Senneville, president of the Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux.
Quebec Premier François Legault downplayed the significance, calling it a standard business decision and pledging government support for displaced workers.
The company will transition to its pre-2020 model, routing deliveries through facilities outside Quebec using third-party carriers.
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