Sûreté du Québec union approves deal with Quebec that includes raises of at least 26%

Quebec provincial police officers have reached an agreement for their labour contract after 70 per cent of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) union members voted in favour of the deal which includes significant raises.

Prior to this deal, SQ officers had been without a contract since March 2022.

The union said the pay raises recognize the unique status of the officers.

A tentative deal which had been signed by the union's bargaining committee and Quebec last Friday includes raises between 26 and 32.9 per cent, according to a document presented to its members on Sunday which was reviewed by Radio-Canada.

This new, six-year deal comes almost a year after 59 per cent of members rejected another tentative deal with the province.

The first one included a 21 per cent salary increase over five years, according to the Association des policiers provinciaux du Québec (APPQ).

SQ officers have been without a contract since March 2022.

"This agreement will improve [officers'] working conditions, while allowing greater flexibility in the organization of services. We will now let the members vote on this agreement," said Éric Girard, the province's finance minister, last Friday.

As of last week, neither the general management of the SQ nor the union president would comment on the agreement in principle.

The office of François Bonnardel, Quebec's public security minister, also said it wanted to wait for the outcome of the vote before commenting.