Barrette announces agreement with the Quebec Ambulance Services Corporation

Quebec Health and Social Services Minister Gaétan Barrette, has announced that an agreement was reached Monday with the Quebec Ambulance Services Corporation (QSAQ), making agreement on the adjustments necessary to resume negotiations with employees regarding the renewal of collective agreements.

The agreement reached with the CSAQ respects the parameters discussed with the Coalition Québécoise des entreprises ambulancières on October 19.

"I am pleased with the outcome of this negotiation with the CSAQ,” Barrette said. “Over the last few months, we have made significant progress in our negotiations and have demonstrated our good faith towards ambulance companies. I am now inviting CSAQ member companies to continue discussions with their employees in a constructive way so that this labour dispute can be resolved. In addition, I’m taking this opportunity to thank members of the Coalition québécoise des entreprises ambulancières for their collaboration and openness during the discussions leading to the signing of this agreement."

On November 29, the Minister announced an investment of $28.2 million to upgrade ambulance services. As a result, 22 more vehicles will be available to the public, representing 133,000 hours of service. In addition, nine ’on-call’ schedules will be converted to hourly schedules. This investment is in addition to those announced in October for the conversion of 12 on-call schedules into hourly hours, at an additional cost of $9.6 million.