CWA Canada Files Labour Complaint Against Ubisoft for Closing Halifax Studio
Communications Workers of America, aka CWA, Canada recently lodged a legal complaint against Ubisoft alleging that the video game company has shuttered its Halifax studio to obstruct efforts toward unionization. The ad-hoc complaint was filed on 13th January 2026, at the Nova Scotia Labour Board.
Details of the Complaint
This action follows Ubisoft's notification regarding the shutdown of its Halifax facility, last Wednesday. The information regarding the closure came just three weeks after CWA Canada had been certified to represent 61 of the 71 employees working out of the studio.
Ubisoft has reportedly attributed the closure to a decline in revenue and a restructuring of the company itself. His company has denied any connection to the union. However, according to CWA Canada, the suddenness of the decision - without the usual notice or financial documentation proving hardship-even suggests anti-union motives. His lawyers have demanded that the giant be made to supply records justifying its claim of financial necessity.
Union Calls for Strengthened Labour Law Penalties
Meanwhile, CWA Canada is pursuing better severance packages and alternative job opportunities for the retrenched employees. Penalties for illegal anti-union practices, according to the union, are inadequate.
According to CWA Canada President Carmel Smyth,
"This is the law in Canada. Workers can't be stopped by their employers from joining a union. But, unfortunately, the penalties are not strong enough to deter this. Such penalties must match the gravity of the bullying."
The union favors amendments in labor laws in order to empower labor boards to impose harsher penalties such as forcing a company to reopen for a year, helping in finding alternative work for staff, or paying workers laid-off for three years' salaries.
Financial Context and Company Background
Ubisoft was bounced by the Nova Scotia government with $12 million in taxpayer funds to help build the local tech industry, according to Smyth, who went on to complain that the company has "walked away without so much as an apology."
Ubisoft, based in France, employs a total of approximately 17,000 employees worldwide, about 4,000 of which are in Canada and in cities like Toronto, Winnipeg, and four other locations in Quebec. CWA Canada Local 30111 encompasses the Halifax studio workforce, including producers, programmers, and designers. This organization also represents workers at Bethesda Game Studios-Montreal and at Montreal Gazette.
