The sudden closure of a major ski resort because of a labour dispute has thrown Quebec’s Charlevoix region into uncertainty, threatening winter-season revenues for local businesses.
“Ninety-nine per cent of our revenue here comes from tourism,” said Serge Bilodeau, mayor of Petite-Rivière-St-François, the village at the base of Le Massif de Charlevoix, a renowned ski destination offering views of the wide expanse of the St. Lawrence River.
Le Massif is a major draw for skiers and a key economic engine for the region northeast of Quebec City. “The closure is having an impact on the entire region,” Bilodeau said.
The union representing about 300 workers launched a strike Jan. 2, with wages a main point of contention during negotiations. Le Massif closed that day then partially reopened on Jan. 6 for a few days with limited operations. But after unionized employees rejected a contract and arbitration offer on Jan. 19, the resort cancelled the rest of the ski season.
Bilodeau said accommodation cancellations in Petite-Rivière-St-François began as soon as the resort first shut down on Jan. 2. He added that one-third of the village’s homes are tourist rentals.
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“We’ve just mortgaged the winter season for many businesses,” he said.
Local shop owners echoed the concerns. Lison Harrison, co-owner of L’Épicerie du village, a grocery store in Petite-Rivière-St-François, described an unusually quiet town.
“My grocery store is empty, there’s no one on the streets,” she said, noting workers from the mountain are typically regular clients. “Without tourism, it’s a disaster. We don’t know where we stand, we don’t know what we’re going to do, I’m already worrying about food that expires in a few days.”
Harrison said the shock was immediate. “It’s not the end of the world, but it’s empty. The village has been shaken.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Claude Choquette, president of Groupe Le Massif — the resort’s developer — said conciliators had summoned both sides to a meeting and emphasized the “urgency” of reaching a resolution by the end of the week.
The union representing Le Massif workers added that it remained hopeful a settlement could be reached. Mitchell Dion, director general of Tourisme Charlevoix qualified the meeting as ”a small glimmer of hope.”
The impacts could spread unevenly across the region. Dion said operators had already been shaken by losses over the holiday period, with several businesses reporting tens of thousands of dollars in cancelled bookings. “It certainly shook us up,” he said, noting that winter break weeks in March in Quebec and Ontario are still to come. “(That’s) where people are really worried.”
Dion encouraged visitors to pivot to other activities in the region, including at the Mont Grand-Fonds ski area, or snowshoeing, snowmobiling, gastronomy, and visiting nearby national parks. “It’s really an opportunity to work together and prevent a disastrous season,” he said.
The closure also affects international partners. Club Med Québec Charlevoix, the chain’s first North American resort, said it will continue operating without skiing or mountain access. Guests are being offered a 50 per cent travel credit per day when the Le Massif remains closed, the option to rebook next winter, or a full refund.
“This situation is entirely independent of our control,” spokesperson Philia Sephora Yatchou said.
Hotels elsewhere in Charlevoix said they were still welcoming visitors. Hugo Germain, co-president of Germain Hotels, a 4-star hotel in Baie-Saint-Paul, wrote in an email the region still offers “a wide range of winter activities,” and that staff are ready to help visitors ”experience the best of Quebec winter.”
Bilodeau said the shutdown underscores the region’s dependence on tourism. “We are currently looking at this as one of our priorities for the coming years: to achieve economic diversity so that we can have a variety of businesses in the Petite-Rivière area.”
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