DCHP-2

construction holiday Construction Holiday DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — Quebec, Administration

  a government-mandated summer vacation period for construction workers in Quebec, which is observed more generally in Quebec.

  Type: 1. Origin — Vacation periods for construction workers in Quebec are set by the Commission de la construction du Québec; one two-week period starts just before Christmas and the other in late July, but it is the latter that has come to be generally known as the construction holiday. The time of that holiday influences the vacation choices of other Quebeckers as well. Construction holidays were put into force by provincial governmental decree in 1970 (see Commission de la construction du Québec reference). As can be seen in Chart 1, the term is a Quebec regionalism.
  See also COD-2, s.v. "construction holiday", which is marked "Cdn (Que.)".

  • Ontario once had construction holidays as well (see the 1954 quotations), but now they are limited to Quebec. The term seems to be an Ontario innovation that was taken over and preserved by Quebec.
  • Quebec's construction holiday usually starts in late July for a period of two weeks, which in 2016, for instance, was from 24 July to 7 August. During this period, many services are unavailable throughout the province, not just construction services.