Quebec paramedics, ambulance technicians to strike Dec. 24 but keep essential service

By: The Canadian Press Posted:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

MONTREAL - Workers for nearly 40 ambulance services across Quebec are planning an unlimited strike beginning Christmas Eve.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/12/2025 (281 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL – Workers for nearly 40 ambulance services across Quebec are planning an unlimited strike beginning Christmas Eve.

The 39 unions are associated with the Fédération du préhospitalier du Québec and represent more than 2,000 paramedics and ambulance technicians across the province. 

Union spokesperson Jérémie Corneau-Landry says paramedics will still be working all their shifts and the strike won’t impact services to the public.

A paramedic loads his stretcher back into the ambulance after bringing a patient to the emergency room at a hospital in Montreal, Thursday, April 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
A paramedic loads his stretcher back into the ambulance after bringing a patient to the emergency room at a hospital in Montreal, Thursday, April 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

However, he says they will be refusing some other duties, including supervising interns and transporting medical personnel.

The province’s labour tribunal has approved the unions’ plan to maintain essential services during the strike and has concluded the public won’t be put at risk.

Corneau-Landry says the workers have been without a contract since March and are calling for improvements to their pension plan as their main demand. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 23, 2025.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

DARREN CALABRESE / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES ‘We warn the government against abusing its majority status and dishonouring the Crown through procedural tools, time allocation or closure to frustrate Parliament’s ability to hear from rights holders and consider amendments,’ National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says.

Canada resorting to its tried and true playbook

Niigaan Sinclair 5 minute read Preview

Canada resorting to its tried and true playbook

Niigaan Sinclair 5 minute read Monday, Sep. 28, 2026

In 1846, Britain faced an emergency influenced by the Irish famine, so leaders repealed the country’s “Corn Laws” and restrictions on imported food and grain, transitioning to a system of free trade.

This created a crisis in the then Province of Canada, which had relied on British “preferential” status to prop up its agricultural and resource industries.

As a result, Canada looked south for new markets and eventually negotiated a free trade agreement with the United States.

This required land to be acquired and converted for industrial use quickly, so Canada quickly dispatched Commissioner William Robinson to negotiate with Indigenous communities along Lake Huron and Lake Superior for land.

Read
Monday, Sep. 28, 2026
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Micheal O’Malley, founder of La Parfumerie, has been ordered by the city of Winnipeg to close his retail store in Wolseley.

Perfumer battling city hall to keep his shop open

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview

Perfumer battling city hall to keep his shop open

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Monday, Sep. 28, 2026

Michael O’Malley has been here before — fighting the City of Winnipeg to keep his business open.

He usually spends his days concocting scents. He’s owned La Parfumerie, a Wolseley shop, since 1993.

Twenty-seven natural perfumes line shelves on 145 Evanson St.’s bottom floor. O’Malley lives above the space.

Now, he’s required to change the home’s zoning or shut out walk-in customers. Either would kill the company, O’Malley said.

Read
Monday, Sep. 28, 2026

Chalk surprise gift up to lust, not love

Maureen Scurfield 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I just got a funny birthday card and a single pink rose delivered to me at work from a boyfriend who broke up with me last spring because I’d gotten too serious (in his opinion). I cried for days back then. He ignored his phone.

I don’t know how to respond to him now. Do you think he’s really had a change of heart, or has he just not gotten lucky for a long time and thought I might be open to hooking up on my birthday?

— Suspicious Ex, Downtown

Dear Suspicious Ex: You just received a birthday card, a single pink rose and no voice contact? He wasn’t taking any chances on being shot down face-to-face, but he definitely is taking a stab at possibly getting some action.

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan, the first Muslim to win a seat in the legislature, announced Monday that he is stepping down.

Khan cites infighting, quits as Tory leader

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Preview

Khan cites infighting, quits as Tory leader

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 9:56 AM CDT

Manitoba’s Leader of the Opposition is stepping down.

Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan announced late Monday afternoon he is quitting caucus and will sit in the legislature as an independent MLA, effective today.

He cited internal party fighting for his decision.

The former Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive lineman survived a caucus confidence vote Friday. He said there were 13 votes for him to remain and six against, with one person absent.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 9:56 AM CDT

Teacher barred for ‘repeated boundary-crossing conduct’

Maggie Macintosh 3 minute read Monday, Sep. 28, 2026

A disciplinary panel has ordered the cancellation of a Chinese-Canadian teacher’s certificate because of her “repeated boundary-crossing with a student” during her tenure at an international school with local ties.

Janice Wen Ying Ma is permanently barred from teaching on Manitoba soil or at a Manitoba-accredited institution as of Sept. 14.

The new ruling concludes that Ma engaged in inappropriate physical interaction and “emotionally intimate online messages” with a girl who attended Clifford International School in Guangzhou, China in 2024-25.

“This conduct represents a fundamental departure from the standards expected of a teacher,” the panel, chaired by public representative Gordon Schumacher, wrote in its 22-page decision.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Premier Wab Kinew and newly minted ministers responsible for first responder initiatives, David Pankratz, and accessibility, Carla Compton, meet with the media.

Kinew adds cabinet portfolio to focus on first responders

Carol Sanders and Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Preview

Kinew adds cabinet portfolio to focus on first responders

Carol Sanders and Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Monday, Sep. 28, 2026

Premier Wab Kinew shuffled his cabinet Monday and created a new ministerial position that will oversee first responders in the province.

Kinew appointed David Pankratz, the MLA for Waverley, as minister responsible for first responder initiatives.

Tuxedo MLA Carla Compton was appointed minister responsible for accessibility, taking over the role from Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine.

The new ministers were sworn in at a ceremony at the legislature Monday afternoon.

Read
Monday, Sep. 28, 2026