Nathalie DuboisQuebecor has eliminated more than 800 jobs across its media empire since 2022, and in May 2026 Pierre Karl Péladeau, the company's president and interim CEO, refused to rule out further cuts or even a possible long-term closure of TVA. The restructuring has reached every corner of the Quebec media landscape — TVA Group, LCN, QUB Radio, Le Journal de Québec, and Le Journal de Montréal itself, which has seen combined print and digital circulation fall from nearly 4.5 million in 2019 to 3.3 million in 2024. For the journalists, editors, camera operators, and support staff caught in this unravelling, the central question has little to do with broadcasting strategy: it is about what the law actually requires an employer to give them when jobs disappear.
The Scale of the Crisis in Quebec's Newsrooms
The numbers coming out of Quebecor since late 2023 are stark. TVA Group alone announced the elimination of 547 positions — 31 per cent of its total workforce — in a single restructuring announcement. That figure included 300 positions in in-house production, 98 positions related to the operation of TVA's regional stations, and 149 positions across other departments. Advertising revenues on traditional television dropped 14 per cent between 2023 and 2025. Original production investment fell by 20 per cent over the same three-year span.
Le Journal de Montréal, which is the highest-circulation French-language newspaper in North America by some measures, is not immune. The paper's reach has contracted alongside every other Quebecor property, and restructuring decisions at the Quebecor level have direct consequences for its editorial and business staff.
This pattern is not unique to Quebecor. Across Canada, media industry restructuring has become a recurring feature of the 2020s, as traditional advertising revenue migrates to digital platforms and legacy newsrooms scramble to adjust.
What Quebec Labour Law Requires During a Collective Dismissal
When a Quebec employer with 10 or more employees eliminates 10 or more jobs within a two-month period, the An Act Respecting Labour Standards triggers specific obligations. The company must notify the Minister of Employment before acting, and affected employees are entitled to enhanced written notice periods based on their length of service — ranging from a minimum of one week for workers with less than one year of continuous service to up to eight weeks for those with eight or more years.
Beyond notice, employees with at least two years of continuous service who are dismissed without cause in Quebec can file a complaint for dismissal without just and sufficient cause under section 124 of the provincial labour standards legislation. The remedy available is reinstatement or financial compensation, and adjudicators have granted substantial awards in cases where employers failed to demonstrate genuine economic necessity rather than using restructuring as a pretext for performance-based dismissals.
The Canada Labour Code governs employees in federally regulated industries — which includes broadcasting. For workers at TVA, LCN, or QUB Radio, federal protections apply, including provisions under Part III that set minimum notice requirements and unjust dismissal remedies for employees who have completed at least 12 consecutive months of service.
The Union Question: Different Protections for Collective Agreement Members
Quebecor's unions have been active in the 2026 crisis. SCFP 687, which represents a significant portion of TVA's workforce, announced that it would assert all member rights and challenged certain job eliminations as violating the terms of the collective agreement — in particular, the allegation that workers laid off at TVA would effectively be replaced by employees from other Quebecor divisions, a practice unions argued circumvented the collective agreement's seniority and job security provisions.
For unionized employees, the collective agreement is the first line of protection. Seniority language typically governs which positions are eliminated first and in what order. Grievance procedures allow the union to challenge individual or mass dismissals before an arbitrator if the employer failed to follow the agreed process. The remedies can be significant: reinstatement with back pay is a standard outcome when arbitrators find that dismissal violated the collective agreement.
Non-union employees at Le Journal de Montréal or other Quebecor outlets have less structural protection, but that does not mean they have none. Notice requirements, severance entitlements, and the right to challenge dismissals that appear to use economic restructuring as a cover for other motives all remain available through the Quebec Commission des normes de l'équité de la santé et de la sécurité du travail or federal equivalents for broadcasting employees.
Recognizing When a Restructuring Hides Something Else
One of the most important legal questions in any major dismissal is whether the employer's stated reason — restructuring, financial pressure, elimination of a role — is genuine, or whether it masks a targeted dismissal that would not survive legal scrutiny under a different label.
In Quebec employment law, this question matters considerably. An employer who attributes a dismissal to economic necessity while simultaneously filling the same functions through contractors, inter-division transfers, or technology purchases without meaningfully reducing workload may face a successful section 124 complaint. Courts and adjudicators have found that the test is not whether the employer faced real financial pressure — it usually has — but whether the specific dismissal was genuinely connected to that pressure.
Media workers who suspect their position was eliminated for reasons beyond the ones stated have reason to consult an employment lawyer before signing any severance agreement. A signed release is binding and waives most claims. The moment to seek advice is before that document is signed, not after.
When Should Media Workers Consult a Legal Expert?
The answer, consistently, is earlier than most wait. These are the situations that warrant a consultation before agreeing to any terms:
- You have been offered a severance package and are unsure whether it meets the minimums required by law
- Your position has been declared redundant but you believe a colleague in a similar role was retained for non-economic reasons
- You are being asked to sign a release as part of a separation agreement
- You were dismissed within the notice period without pay in lieu, and the employer's calculation seems low
- The collective agreement governs your position but the union does not appear to be grieving your case
An employment lawyer can review a severance offer against the applicable legal minimums, assess whether a wrongful dismissal complaint has merit, and negotiate directly with the employer without the affected worker being in direct conflict with a company they may hope to return to in a different capacity.
Platforms like Expert Zoom connect Canadians with licensed legal professionals — including employment and labour lawyers — who can assess a specific situation and advise on the appropriate next steps. A 30-minute consultation before signing can be worth considerably more than the legal fees, particularly when severance packages for long-tenured employees can run into tens of thousands of dollars.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified employment lawyer for advice tailored to your specific circumstances.
