Canada's unions seeing high approval ratings
The tide has shifted.
After decades of declining union approval ratings, we have entered a new era of the highest union approval rating since 1965. The charge is being led by the ever-growing Millennial and Gen-Z workforces, who are known to be more union-friendly than their parents’ and grandparents’ generations. Since the pandemic, unions in Canada have been winning representation rights for workers, workplaces, and geographical locations that were traditionally union-free and considered difficult to unionize.
Starbucks union efforts began in the US in 2021, reached Canada in 2022, and continue gaining traction after certification at over 10 stores in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario. Alberta is one of the least union-friendly provinces, and the hospitality sector is considered to be difficult for unions to organize due to fragmented and transient workforces, yet the United Steelworkers union found quick success within a few months.
In June 2022, employees at Keywords Studios, a videogame design studio in Alberta, voted in favour of being represented by a union, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), becoming the first unionized videogame studio in Canada. The tech industry, particularly software development companies, were traditionally considered difficult for unions to organize due to dispersed workforces and a work culture consisting of highly skilled and specialized individuals.
The Unifor union is also gaining momentum in unionizing Walmart workers across Canada, with three successful organizing drives in the past six months with fleet drivers in Alberta and British Columbia, and warehouse workers in Ontario. Unifor is even expecting a decision on including more workers in Sicamous, British Columbia, according to a recent press release from the union. As one of the largest retailers in the world, the unionization of the first Walmart warehouse in North America is significant.
In July 2024, nearly 400 workers at five Highline Mushroom farms in British Columbia joined the UFCW, which the UFCW described in a July 9, 2024, press release as the largest group of farmworkers in Canadian history to join a union. Migrant agricultural workers often face barriers to unionizing due to their temporary work status and fear of employer retaliation, but the UFCW was successful and even negotiated support for workers to apply for permanent Canadian residency in the first union contract.
In early 2022, Uber Canada and the UFCW signed a national agreement so the union can provide free representation to over 100,000 Uber drivers and delivery people facing account dispute issues. Just last month, UFCW applied for certification to represent Uber drivers in Victoria, British Columbia. If accepted, these drivers will become the first unionized workers for a ride-hailing app in Canada, according to a March 26, 2025, article in the Victoria Times Colonist.
So what’s behind the recent union resurgence across Canada? Despite what some may think, the explanation for this is not as simple as unions handing out “cool merch” to younger prospective members. Unions understand younger workers seek and prioritize greater dignity and respect at work, coupled with stringent workplace safety rules in a post-COVID world, and “living wages.” This latter concept is different from simply demanding more pay; it is contextual and employees want to know that their employers are considering local economic factors, such as cost of living in a particular city or inflation, when setting wages. Though unions cannot guarantee any collective bargaining outcomes, recent organizing campaigns have focused on these issues.
Union organizers have also adapted with the times and use modern technologies to organize employees. Instead of holding union meetings in dingy local pubs, organizers can now reach nation-wide audiences via video chat platforms such as Zoom, and stay in constant communication via instant messaging apps. Instead of chasing down the prospective members to sign physical union membership cards in person, membership cards can now be signed electronically in the comfort of the employees’ own homes. Even certification votes are largely held electronically through a website or telephone, rather than travelling to a polling station and casting a traditional paper ballot.
Employers must remember that employees need to feel respected, informed, heard, and safe at work. Unfortunately, with the pressures of coping with supply chain issues, return to office and hybrid work arrangements, and ever-changing tariffs, it is easy to lose focus on the constant need for positive employee engagement. To promote effective communication with employees, it is crucial to use their preferred methods of communication and to regularly engage in activities that foster open communication.
These suggested action items are relatively easy to implement quickly and can create opportunities for better communication and employee engagement to ensure employees feel they are being heard and provided with a safe, fulfilling, and engaging place of employment:
“Walk the floor,” both physically and virtually: This is not as simple as showing face. Walking the floor should foster genuine, meaningful exchanges between employees and members of the management team where they can learn about the problems or concerns of their employees and engage with employees directly. If you are a Vice President of Operations at a large logistics company, walking the floor may involve visiting warehouses across the country on a regular basis and talking to the warehouse workers about their weekend plans, their kids’ hockey tournaments, and whether they are experiencing any workplace issues. If you are a Chief Technology Officer of a videogame company, walking the floor may involved regularly scheduling brief one-on-one Zoom calls with technicians to learn about what podcasts they are listening to, their next vacation destinations, and what they are doing to maintain work-life balance during their busy seasons. Such exchanges create opportunities for genuine, positive, and continuous engagement.
Speak the employees’ language: The concern is not so much whether there is a formalized communication process for bridging the gap between employee and employer. The concern is whether that process is actually accessible and operational. Employers should strive for transparent, fruitful, and action-driven co-ordination at all levels of the business. For example, a Starbucks employee working with a broken espresso machine will struggle to keep up with orders, much like a forklift operator who finds themselves in a warehouse with worn-out equipment or inefficient procedures, the reasons for which were never explained to him or are no longer applicable. Employees should be empowered to report such workplace issues to their frontline and middle managers via their preferred methods of communication. Frontline and middle managers should feel comfortable reporting issues up the ladder and recommending corrective actions. Once workplace issues are identified, build trust with employees by ensuring that you address them promptly, so they do not fester.
Take prompt corrective action: A simple concept, but when it comes to building trust, showing is much more effective than telling. Once workplace issues are identified through walking the floor and communicating openly with employees, don’t just tell the employees that management is aware of workplace issues. Instead, show the employees that they are valued by taking prompt corrective actions and communicating the same to the employees. Sometimes, corrective action may simply entail educating an employee about the reasons why a certain process or procedure must be followed because nobody took the time to explain it before. Building trust is a marathon, not a sprint, and consistently taking prompt and tailored corrective actions will help you win the employees’ trust.
Unions across Canada have revamped themselves in recent years by adapting and organizing workers via communications preferred by younger employees. Employers can keep their elbows up against this resurgence of union organizing by walking the floor, maintaining open communications, learning about workplace issues, promising the workers that corrective actions are underway, and promptly and consistently delivering on those promises.
Victor Kim is a partner at McMillan LLP in Toronto, specializing in employment and labour relations.
