Brush cutters describe exploitative work conditions by Hydro-Québec subcontractors
Workers forced to sleep 2 a bed, travel on foot for hours, Radio-Canada investigation finds
Some workers from Africa who were hired to cut vegetation under Hydro-Québec power lines are sounding the alarm about unsafe working conditions, cramped housing and transportation issues.
Radio-Canada spoke with 15 brush cutters who worked for two Hydro-Québec subcontractors this summer, finding the companies failed to meet standards for health, safety, transportation or accommodation.
The companies — LDomo inc. and Gestion sylvicole — are based in Brossard and Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, two suburbs off the island of Montreal.
Workers described being forced to sleep two per bed or having to travel on foot for hours through Quebec's forests instead of being provided with transportation to get to job sites.
A video from July obtained by Radio-Canada shows an LDomo worker wading through chest-deep water in Quebec's Côte-Nord region, dressed in his work clothes and carrying his equipment over his shoulder. The man was on his way to work beneath a transmission line.
Workers said they were unable to contact a helicopter pilot, paid for by Hydro-Québec, to take them to their destination, because the satellite phone supplied by LDomo had run out of battery.
The men said they risked crossing the river for fear of not being paid for the rest of the day. Brush cutters are paid by the hectare cleared. Their travels — on foot and sometimes lasting hours — are unpaid.
"This is completely unacceptable. We want to be clear about this," said Hydro-Québec spokesperson Cendrix Bouchard in response to Radio-Canada's findings.
The investigation comes at a time when the utility has made a commitment to its customers to increase vegetation control. In its 2035 action plan, it promises that this will help reduce outages by 35 per cent over the next seven to 10 years.
"Suppliers are expected to comply with the code of conduct, respect human rights and uphold health and safety standards for the people they work with," Bouchard said.
Workers not provided transportation
In 2024, Hydro-Québec awarded contracts worth $7 million and $433,000 to LDomo inc. and Gestion sylvicole, respectively, to clear brush under the major high-voltage lines that cross the province.
Most of the workers, as well as the owners of LDomo inc. and Gestion sylvicole, are from African countries. Some are asylum seekers with precarious status in Canada.
Radio-Canada learned that, in the spring, LDomo brush cutters had to walk for hours in the forest to and from Hydro-Québec job sites because they weren't provided proper transportation means, such as all-terrain vehicles (ATVs).
Following a meeting between LDomo and Hydro-Québec on June 13, the public utility said the situation represented an "incredible waste of time [and] energy for workers," in addition to "increased risks of injury, fatigue, heatstroke, falls and more."
"We expect to see a radical change in these issues," said Hydro-Québec in a document to LDomo at the time.
Fabien Simard, general director of the Association des entrepreneurs en travaux sylvicoles du Québec (AETSQ), said he is disappointed and shocked by the conditions reported by LDomo workers.
"We're taking advantage of workers' naivety and lack of knowledge," he said. "The work environment is being neglected, and workers are taking completely unreasonable risks."
In 2020, the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) noted a general increase in the number of accidents in the brush-cutting sector.
Allegations 'are lies,' says LDomo owner
Following an internal investigation triggered by complaints from brush cutters this summer, Hydro-Québec banned LDomo from future tenders for not having followed its code of conduct.
Bouchard clarified the ban was not in relation to Radio-Canada's inquiries.
"When we are able to corroborate complaints or shortcomings that have been observed, we take action," he said.
In a phone interview with Radio-Canada, LDomo owner Lazare Domo denied the workers' allegations.
"They are lies, sabotage on the part of the workers. I have nothing to hide," Domo said.
He confirmed that health and safety issues led to his exclusion from Hydro-Québec contracts, but he insists the workers are to blame for failing to follow the rules.
Patrick Magabanya, who worked as a foreman on LDomo sites in the Côte-Nord this summer, criticized the Crown corporation for being too slow to act.
"How is it that Hydro-Québec waits until there's an outcry and a multitude of complaints before reacting?" said Magabanya, who was among the workers who contacted the utility about "recurring poor organization" at LDomo and "degrading" and "abusive" treatment.
Magabanya worked as a brush cutter for 15 years and has trained others on the job for the past five.
He said Hydro-Québec should do more to ensure that workers under its transmission lines are treated with dignity and that their working conditions meet proper standards.
A Hydro-Québec executive, who was not authorized to speak to the media, said brush cutters are "like Mexicans in the fields. White people don't want to do the job."
The executive said he's seen eight people sleeping in accommodations meant for two.
Forced to share beds
Radio-Canada found that some workers for Gestion sylvicole were housed in a motel, four to a room, where they were forced to share beds.
Léonard Kabeya Tshikuku and Hervé Horo worked for Gestion sylvicole this summer and had to share a bed in a rented condo.
"There's hardly any privacy," Kabeya Tshikuku said. "For me, it's unimaginable. I would never have thought that here in Canada, we could see workers sharing the same bed."
Offering the same bed to two workers is not permitted, according to a regulation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Reached by Radio-Canada, Gestion sylvicole owner Jean-Claude Nonge said he was too busy to answer questions, saying he had to redo the work completed by the same brush cutters who made the allegations.
Kabeya Tshikuku said if Hydro-Québec is sending out engineers to check what work is being produced, "what's stopping them from also sending people to check the conditions under which we work … and live?"
Hydro-Québec declined to say whether it had also investigated the Gestion sylvicole case, but says it does not plan, for the time being, to do business with the company again. It retracted part of the company's contract because it was not satisfied with the time it took for the work to be completed.
Seven former LDomo workers also complained about lodging conditions that did not comply with the CNESST guide for forestry workers.
The brush cutters complained they had to pay too much for lodging and some workers had to sleep in the kitchen. Meanwhile, other contractors sometimes offer accommodation free of charge.
After learning of Radio-Canada's findings, the Bureau de la normalisation du Québec (BNQ) carried out its own checks and suspended LDomo's certification, which is required for forestry companies carrying out non-commercial work on Quebec's public forest.
"LDomo can no longer operate until it meets the criteria for lifting the suspension," the BNQ said.
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Translated by CBC's Sabrina Jonas