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OTTAWA — has launched a national letter-writing campaign to mobilize its “600,000 members across the country” in relation to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s newly formed Major Projects Office. 

The organization wants to ensure all projects approved through the office “that involve taxpayer funding include project labour agreements, pay prevailing wages and have mandatory apprenticeship requirements.”

This comes after the federal government passed Bill C-5, which aims to reduce interprovincial trade barriers, expedite major projects and “create good-paying, unionized jobs.”

According to the templated letter on the CBTU’s website, “adding these requirements to Bill C-5 would mirror the language in Bill C-59, which was passed in 2023 and included the implementation of Investment Tax Credits in clean technology, carbon capture, utilization and storage, and hydrogen.”

That bill also stated each covered worker must be compensated for their work according to the most recent multi-employer collective bargaining agreement that was negotiated with a CBTU affiliate and that incentive claimants must make “reasonable efforts to ensure that apprentices registered in a Red Seal trade work at least 10 per cent of the total hours” on the specified project. Employers who meet these requirements are eligible to claim 30 to 40 per cent tax credits.

“These requirements are essential for Canada’s economy,” the letter adds. 

The letter can be found at: