Bombardier set to recall 11,000 workers

MONTREAL — Bombardier Inc. has announced that 11,000 furloughed employees will likely return to work over the next few weeks, part of some 450,000 Quebecers expected to go back on the job as the province prepares to restart its economy.

The plane-and-train maker said Tuesday it will resume production in Quebec as of May 11, the day set by the provincial government for factories to unlock their doors.

The economic restart will come as welcome news to a company grappling with share-price lows, credit downgrades and a $9.3-billion US debt.

Bombardier shuttered operations and sent 12,400 employees on unpaid leave — 9,000 of them in Quebec — on March 24 as nonessential work ground to a halt across the country.

It said Tuesday employees whose physical presence is not required at plants or service sites will continue to work from home.

The company also said it will draw on the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, which funds 75 per cent of an employee’s pay up to a maximum of $847.

Earlier Tuesday, Premier Francois Legault said stores with their own entrances will be allowed to open on May 4 outside of the Montreal area and May 11 in the Montreal region, with factories and construction sites across the province allowed to open May 11.

Legault said the province will keep close tabs on the number of COVID-19 cases and the ability of hospitals to respond.

On Monday, he announced elementary schools and daycares across Quebec will reopen by May 19.

Ontario, on the other hand, has given no dates or schedule for lifting COVID restrictions, other than that schools will stay closed until at least the end of May.