Municipal Labour Dispute 2025

Scroll down for Operational and Service Impacts, and Frequently Asked Questions. 

On September 29, 2025 the District of Squamish received strike notice from CUPE 2269, the Bargaining Unit representing approximately 250 employees of the District.

The Union began job action on October 2 at 10:11 a.m. and widespread job action began across all facilities on October 16 at 6 a.m.

The parties have agreed to enter non-binding mediation through the Labour Relations Board of British Columbia, that will begin Friday morning, October 24.

District operations, programs and service impacts will be communicated on this page. 

What residents can expect:

Work deemed as essential services will not be disrupted. Essential services are those that are necessary to maintain the health and safety of the community. These include services such as water and sewer treatment, and fire and police protection.

Background:

The Collective Agreement between the District and CUPE 2269 (the “Parties”) expired on December 31, 2024.  The District bargaining team has been at the table with the Union since October 2024. Negotiations progressed until the Union indicated that the Parties were at impasse on July 4, 2025. The Union walked away from the bargaining table stating that they did not believe the District had proposed sufficient wage increases. Bargaining resumed October 1. 

The District’s most recent proposal was in direct response to the Union’s concerns related to affordability. This included a wage increase to $27.50 per hour for the lowest paid employees, and a general wage increase offered to all other positions of 3.26% in 2025 and 2.99% in 2026. This builds on an 11.5% increase over 2022 (3%), 2023 (4.5%) and 2024 (4%), and a one-time 4.5% cash payment cost-of-living allowance in 2024.

To address work/life balance, the District offered to decrease the time it would take Union employees to achieve four weeks of paid vacation. Employees would receive four paid weeks of vacation after four years of service (rather than the current five years). This change would give District of Squamish employees additional vacation time earlier than many other municipalities including Metro Vancouver municipalities and the Resort Municipality of Whistler.  Compressed work schedules were also offered by the District. Employees who were not offered compressed hours of work due to operational and service requirements were offered the opportunity to bank and use additional overtime to provide them with additional paid time away from work.

Employee wages are funded by taxation and utility fees, and the District is responsible to taxpayers in the amounts of its offers at the bargaining table. The District empathizes with affordability challenges that employees may face and highly values its hard-working and dedicated employees. The District maintains that the package offered to the Union is fair and works to address affordability and work/life balance concerns that employees have raised, while ensuring the District remains responsible to taxpayers given the substantial tax and utility fee pressures anticipated in the coming years.

Stay informed:

The District will continue to provide updates to the community as the situation develops and notify the community of any disruptions to programs and services. Stay tuned to this page for ongoing updates.

 

Current Operational and Service Impacts (check daily for updates)

  • The ice arena is closed due to the inability to maintain the ammonia plant without certified operators.
  • The pool is closed due to the lack of certified pool operators to maintain water quality and facility systems.
  • Brennan Park Recreation Centre booking requests are currently on hold.
  • The October 24 Pro-D Day camp has been cancelled.
  • Drop-in programs at Brennan Park Recreation Centre (including drop-in programs at off-site facilities) have been cancelled.
  • Brennan Park Recreation Centre, including public washrooms, remains closed until further notice.
  • Fall Aquatics program registration has been delayed indefinitely.
  • Refunds for programs will be issued in due course. Customer emails can be sent to [email protected], though responses will be delayed.

Gymnastics: 

  • Weekly gymnastics programming will continue to be assessed on a weekly basis and information will be provided directly by the contract instructor. For any questions please contact [email protected].
  • Friday October 24 Parent & Tot and Parent & Baby Gymnastics Programs will continue.
  • Friday, October 24 School Aged FUNdamentals from 3:30-4:30 p.m. will continue. School Aged FUNdamentals from 4:30-5:30 p.m. remains cancelled.
  • Please enter through the southwest gym door as the front door will not be open.

  • The turf field remains open. Portable washrooms will remain operational until further notice. 
  • Grass fields remain open until further notice. Washrooms in the fieldhouse building will be open daily during pre-scheduled field use.
  • Pickleball and tennis courts remain open.
  • Other facilities such as the BMX track, the SORCA skills park and skate parks are not impacted.

  • The facility will remain open during regular operating hours (Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), and remains open for previously booked events and rentals. Washrooms remain open.
  • Future booking requests are currently on hold.
  • Certain programs led by contracted instructors continue to be offered.
  • Programs led by Union employees, including Seniors Bus Trips, are cancelled.
  • View the daily schedule at squamish.ca/seniors for a full list of offered programs.

  • Certain programs led by contracted instructors continue to be offered. View the daily schedule at squamish.ca/seniors.

  • The facility remains open during regular operating hours for the intake of applications such as business licences, building permits, planning and environmental permitting applications.
  • Financial services payments, including dog and business licence payments, can be completed online at squamish.ca/online-services.
  • Public washrooms are closed. Public washrooms at Junction Park (Cleveland Avenue between Victoria Street and Main Street) remain open between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily. 

  • Essential services such as water supply and distribution, wastewater (sewage) treatment and collections, snow and ice control continue. 
  • Non-unionized employees will complete work relating to District garbage bin collection and other tasks.
  • Weather-related issues are considered an essential service and will be actioned appropriately.

  • The RCMP facility remains open and police services are not impacted.
  • Urgent bylaw enforcement will continue to be actioned by other authorized agencies. Bylaw complaints can continue to be identified to [email protected] and will be prioritized accordingly.
  • Animal control services will be impacted, and the dog pound will be closed until further notice. Please contact the RCMP via the non-emergency line 604-892-6100, or 9-1-1 in an emergency, for any concerns related to dangerous dogs.

Remains open. 

-          Fire rescue services are not impacted.

  • Film and event permit applications are temporarily not being accepted. 
  • Repair Café and Children’s Clothing and Toy Swap events are cancelled.
  • Budget Bingo and Budget Trivia nights next week are cancelled.

Updates

Read the news release. 

Read the statement. 

Read the news release. 

Read the news release. 

 CUPE 2269 has advised the following for Tuesday, October 14:

  • Unionized employees will not provide equipment or technical support for in-person or online meetings, with the exception of Council Meetings held in Council Chambers. 
  • Unionized employees will not provide access to systems to facilitate non-Union employees performing struck work, nor any related onboarding. 
  • Unionized employees will not assist in the creation of any manuals or instructional materials on how to perform Union work.
  • Unionized employees will not collect fees for Police Information Checks. 
  • Unionized employees will not escort contractors or tradespeople at the Squamish RCMP detachment. 


For clarity, the following measures also remain in place:

  • A standby and overtime ban across the Public Works department.
  • Unionized employees will not collect drop-in admission fees at Brennan Park or the 55 Activity Centre.
  • Unionized employees will not collect fees for self-led programs at the 55 Activity Centre.  
  • Unionized employees will not verify that patrons have paid admission before entering the ice arena.
  • Unionized employees will not issue parking tickets.
  • Unionized employees will not process in-person payments for Business Licence Applications, Building Permits, Planning Permits, Bulk Water Payments, Water On/Off, or Engineering Service Agreements.
  • Unionized employees will not issue eApply folder numbers, access codes or enter payment information into Flowpoint.
  • Engineering Technicians and Engineering Technician Coordinators will not complete technical reviews, payment processing, or issue work permits.   
  • Unionized employees will not train, instruct, or provide guidance to exempt managers or employees on how to perform Union work.

In terms of any additional anticipated public impacts the District advises of the following:

  • Equipment or technical support for in-person or online meetings will be provided by non-Union staff.
  • Access to systems to facilitate non-Union employees performing struck work, and any related onboarding will be provided by non-Union employees.
  • Any assistance in the creation of any manuals or instructional materials on how to perform Union work will be provided by non-Union employees.
  • Fees will continue to be accepted for Police Information Checks. Collection of payments will be undertaken by non-Union employees.
  • Contractors or tradespeople at the Squamish RCMP detachment will be escorted by non-Union employees. 
  • Verification of paid admission before entering the ice arena will be undertaken by non-Union staff.
  • Technical reviews, payment processing, and the issuance of work permits will be undertaken by non-Union staff.
  • In-person Building, Planning and Engineering payments will continue to be accepted at Municipal Hall. Collection of payments will continue, and will be undertaken by non-Union staff.
  • Online Building, Planning and Engineering payments will continue to be accepted at squamish.ca/online-services.
  • Collection of recreation user fees will continue (including self-led and drop-in program fees), and will be undertaken by non-Union staff.

As an assurance to residents, essential services to maintain the health and safety of the community have been designated by the Labour Relations Board of BC and certain unionized staff working in these areas have been designated as essential service workers. These include services such as water supply and distribution, wastewater (sewage) treatment and collections, snow and ice control, and fire and police protection. Essential service workers will continue to perform their role during any strike action.

For a complete list of impacts from CUPE 2269 job action, view the Current Operational and Service Impacts section below. 

 

Read the news release. 

CUPE 2269 has advised the following for Thursday, October 9.

As part of ongoing job action, the Union will implement the following additional measures: 

  • Unionized employees will not verify that patrons have paid admission before entering the ice arena.

For clarity, the following measures also remain in place:

  • A standby and overtime ban across the Public Works department.
  • Unionized employees will not collect drop-in admission fees at Brennan Park Recreation Centre or The 55 Activity Centre.
  • Bylaw officers will not issue parking tickets.
  • Unionized employees will not process in-person payments for Business Licence Applications, Building Permits, Planning Permits, Bulk Water Payments, Water On/Off, or Engineering Service Agreements.
  • Unionized employees will not issue eApply folder numbers, access codes or enter payment information into Flowpoint.
  • Unionized employees will not train, instruct, or provide guidance to exempt managers or employees on how to perform Union work.
  • Engineering Technicians and Engineering Technician Coordinators will not complete technical reviews, payment processing, or issue work permits.  
  • Unionized employees will not collect fees for self-led programs at The 55 Activity Centre.  

In terms of any additional anticipated public impacts the District advises of the following:

  • Verification of paid admission before entering the ice arena will be undertaken by non-Union District staff.
  • Technical reviews, payment processing, and the issuance of work permits will be undertaken by non-Union District staff.
  • In-person Building, Planning and Engineering payments will continue to be accepted at Municipal Hall. Collection of payments will continue, and will be undertaken by non-Union District staff.
  • Online Building, Planning and Engineering payments will continue to be accepted at squamish.ca/online-services.
  • Collection of recreation user fees will continue (including self-led and drop-in program fees), and will be undertaken by non-Union District staff.

As an assurance to residents, essential services to maintain the health and safety of the community have been designated by the Labour Relations Board of BC and certain unionized staff working in these areas have been designated as essential service workers. These include services such as water supply and distribution, wastewater (sewage) treatment and collections, snow and ice control, and fire and police protection. Essential service workers will continue to perform their role during any strike action.

For a complete list of impacts from CUPE 2269 job action, view the Current Operational and Service Impacts section below.

 

CUPE 2269 has advised the following for Wednesday, October 8.

 

As part of ongoing job action, the Union will implement the following additional measures: 

 

  • Engineering Technicians and Engineering Technician Coordinators will not complete technical reviews, payment processing, or issue work permits.  
  • Unionized employees will not collect fees for self-led programs at The 55 Activity Centre.  

 

For clarity, the following measures also remain in place:

 

  • A standby and overtime ban across the Public Works department.
  • Unionized employees will not collect drop-in admission fees at Brennan Park Recreation Centre or The 55 Activity Centre.
  • Bylaw officers will not issue parking tickets.
  • Unionized employees will not process in-person payments for Business Licence Applications, Building Permits, Planning Permits, Bulk Water Payments, Water On/Off, or Engineering Service Agreements.
  • Unionized employees will not issue eApply folder numbers, access codes or enter payment information into Flowpoint.
  • Unionized employees will not train, instruct, or provide guidance to exempt managers or employees on how to perform Union work.

 

In terms of any additional anticipated public impacts the District advises of the following:

 

  • Technical reviews, payment processing, and the issuance of work permits will be undertaken by non-Union District staff.
  • In-person Building, Planning and Engineering payments will continue to be accepted at Municipal Hall. Collection of payments will continue, and will be undertaken by non-Union District staff.
  • Online Building, Planning and Engineering payments will continue to be accepted at squamish.ca/online-services.
  • Collection of recreation user fees will continue (including self-led and drop-in program fees), and will be undertaken by non-Union District staff.

As an assurance to residents, essential services to maintain the health and safety of the community have been designated by the Labour Relations Board of BC and certain unionized staff working in these areas have been designated as essential service workers. These include services such as water supply and distribution, wastewater (sewage) treatment and collections, snow and ice control, and fire and police protection. Essential service workers will continue to perform their role during any strike action.

 

For a complete list of impacts from CUPE 2269 job action, view the Current Operational and Service Impacts section below.

CUPE 2269 has advised the following for Monday, October 6.

As part of ongoing job action, the Union will implement the following additional measures: 

  • Unionized employees will be refusing to process in-person payments for Business License Applications, Building Permits, Planning Permits, Bulk Water Payments, Water On/Off, or Engineering Service Agreements.
  • Unionized employees will be refusing to issue eApply folder numbers, access codes or enter payment information into Flowpoint.

Payments related to all other services, including the cemetery, bylaw tickets, and dog licenses, will remain unaffected. 

In terms of any additional anticipated public impacts the District advises of the following:

  • In-person Building, Planning and Engineering payments will continue to be accepted at Municipal Hall. Collection of payments will continue, and will be undertaken by non-Union District staff
  • Online Building, Planning and Engineering payments will continue to be accepted at squamish.ca/online-services   

As an assurance to residents, essential services to maintain the health and safety of the community have been designated by the Labour Relations Board of BC and certain unionized staff working in these areas have been designated as essential service workers. These include services such as water supply and distribution, wastewater (sewage) treatment and collections, snow and ice control, and fire and police protection. Essential service workers will continue to perform their role during any strike action.

For a complete list of impacts from CUPE 2269 job action, view the Current Operational and Service Impacts section below.

 

CUPE 2269 has advised the following for Friday, October 3.

As part of ongoing job action, the Union will implement the following additional measures:

  • Members will not train, instruct, or provide guidance to exempt managers or employees on how to perform union work.
  • Cessation of collecting drop-in admission fees at the 55 Activity Centre.
  • A ban on standby work across the Public Works Department.  

In terms of any additional anticipated public impacts the District advises of the following:

  • Collection of recreation user fees will continue, and will be undertaken by non-Union staff.

As an assurance to residents, essential services to maintain the health and safety of the community have been designated by the Labour Relations Board of BC and certain unionized staff working in these areas have been designated as essential service workers. These include services such as water supply and distribution, wastewater (sewage) treatment and collections, snow and ice control, and fire and police protection. Essential service workers will continue to perform their role during any strike action.

For a complete list of impacts from CUPE 2269 job action, view the Current Operational and Service Impacts section below.

On Thursday morning (October 2), CUPE 2269 began job action in certain District of Squamish departments. This includes an overtime ban in Public Works, and not performing certain job-specific tasks in Bylaw Services, Recreation Services and the RCMP administration.

The Union advised that, effective 10:11 a.m., they would be taking the following action:

  • An overtime ban across the entire Public Works Department.
  • Cessation of collecting drop-in admission fees at the Brennan Park arena.
  • Bylaw Officers will not be issuing parking tickets.
  • RCMP Operations Coordinators will go to essential levels until end of day today.

In terms of anticipated public impacts, please be advised of the following:

  • When or if overtime within Public Works is required, the necessary work will be performed by non-Union District staff.

  • Weather-related issues are considered an emergency response and will be actioned appropriately as an essential service. 

  • Water, wastewater treatment, and wastewater collections services are essential to ensure community safety. Certain unionized staff working in these areas have been designated as essential service workers and will continue to perform their role during any strike action, including if overtime were to be required. Qualified exempt staff will be redeployed to cover technical roles that are not staffed by essential workers, and aspects of the work that don't require certifications will also be conducted by non-unionized District staff. 

  • Parking tickets will continue to be issued where required by other authorized departments.

  • Essential services will continue to be provided at the RCMP detachment.

  • Collection of recreation user fees will continue, and will be undertaken by non-Union District staff. 

The patience of the public is appreciated during this time. The District’s goal is to reach an agreement with the Union that is fair and works to address affordability and work/life balance concerns that employees have raised, while ensuring the District remains responsible to taxpayers given the substantial tax and utility fee pressures anticipated in the coming years.

Lockout Frequently Asked Questions

A lockout is when an employer prevents employees from working by closing a work location or department. It is a formal action used by employers during labour disputes, similar to how a union may strike, but initiated by the employer. In a lockout, employees are denied access to the workplace and stop receiving wages. 

The District is focused on reaching a Collective Agreement that provides a fair employment package to unionized employees and thoughtfully allocates taxpayers’ money. It was unable to sustain service levels while the Union continued to undertake daily job action, and so made the difficult decision to lock out employees at the following facilities:

  • Public Works
  • Municipal Hall
  • Annex and Cleveland Avenue auxiliary offices

The District did not want to implement a lockout due to the significant impact on its unionized employees, and the community, however a lockout is the parallel employer tool to the Union’s strike action in an attempt to influence the bargaining process.

Recreation facilities (Brennan Park Recreation Centre and The 55 Activity Centre), RCMP, Bylaw, Emergency Management, and Facilities Operations and Maintenance were not locked out by the District.

The District understands how important it is for the community to continue to have access to recreational facilities. The District had made every effort to keep the arena and pool open, however the operation of both these facilities rely on certified attendants who are unionized employees. 

A significant impact of the job action extending to Brennan Park Recreation Centre is that the ice will need to be removed and the pool drained. Given the requirement for certified ammonia plant operators and pool operators, the District is unable to keep the facility open.

We are truly sorry this is impacting the community once again.

The District remains committed to the bargaining process and engaging with the Union to negotiate a fair employment package for unionized employees. We urgently want to get back to the bargaining table to resolve this and achieve a fair agreement that is fair to the taxpayer too. 

The Union has not responded to the District’s most recent proposal of October 4. 

Frequently Asked Questions

A strike is a work stoppage or slowdown organized by a union during the collective bargaining process. A “general” strike means that all unionized employees stop working completely in all departments and at all locations. A “rotating” strike is a series of stoppages in different departments or at different locations. “Working to rule” is where unionized employees strictly adhere to the terms of their collective agreement or job description, performing only the minimum required tasks (e.g. not performing overtime). A union may employ one or all of these types of action at different times during a strike.

On July 16, 2025 CUPE 2269 received a strike mandate from its members. This put the Union in a position to serve the District with 72-hour strike notice should they choose to take any job action. The Union provided 72-hour notice on September 29, 2025. Job action began on October 2 with an overtime ban in Public Works and some job-specific items in certain departments. View the Current Operational and Service Impacts section on this page. 

On July 16, 2025 CUPE 2269 received a strike mandate from its members. This put the Union in a position to serve the District with 72-hour strike notice should they choose. The Collective Agreement between the District and CUPE 2269 (the “Parties”) expired on December 31, 2024. The District bargaining team has been at the table with the Union since October 2024. Negotiations progressed until the Union indicated that the Parties were at impasse on July 4, 2025. The Union walked away from the bargaining table stating that they did not believe the District had proposed sufficient wage increases.

The District’s most recent proposal was in direct response to the Union’s concerns related to affordability. The offer reallocated the general increase amount offered at the bargaining table to provide additional support to the lowest paid employees. This included a wage increase to $27.50 per hour for the lowest paid employees, and a general wage increase offered to all other positions of 3.26% in 2025 and 2.99% in 2026. This builds on an 11.5% increase over 2022 (3%), 2023 (4.5%) and 2024 (4%), and a one-time 4.5% cash payment cost-of-living allowance in 2024.

To address work/life balance, the District offered to decrease the time it would take Union employees to achieve four weeks of paid vacation. Employees would receive four paid weeks of vacation after four years of service (rather than the current five years). This change would give District of Squamish employees additional vacation time earlier than many other municipalities including Metro Vancouver municipalities and the Resort Municipality of Whistler.  Compressed work schedules were also offered by the District. Employees who were not offered compressed hours of work due to operational and service requirements were offered the opportunity to bank and use additional overtime to provide them with additional paid time away from work.

The Union has cited wages and work life balance as key outstanding issues. Their June proposal sought a 4.5% increase in 2025 and a 4% increase in 2026. In the Union’s latest proposal (October 1), they increased their initial position from an 8.5% wage increase over two years, to a 16.5% wage increase over four years.

 

District employees work either a 35 or a 40 hour week. In addition, they receive paid vacation and paid sick leave that exceeds the minimum amounts under Employment Standards. Where operations and customer service permits, employees are offered compressed work weeks where additional days off are available.  

 

The Union is also seeking additional changes including an expansion of compressed hours to other areas of the organization where the District believes customer service would be negatively impacted. The Union is also seeking new language to have finance calculate union dues differently; a new bank to accumulate time off related to standby pay; an increase to the amount of time people can take off from their overtime bank and an increase in the amount of time they can carry over into the next year; additional vacation time; new language about banking time during holiday closure; labour market adjustments to three positions. 

The duration of the labour dispute depends on when the Union and District reach an agreement. 

Essential services are the minimum levels of services designated by the Labour Relations Board as necessary to maintain the health and safety of the community during a strike. These include services such as water supply and distribution, wastewater (sewage) treatment and collections, snow and ice control, and fire and police protection.

Certain unionized staff working in these areas have been designated as essential service workers. Essential service workers will continue to perform their role during any strike action.

No, essential services are not disrupted during a strike/job action/lockout.

Mediation is a process that involves a neutral person (mediator) to help the union and the employer (the parties) to negotiate and reach an agreement on all or some of the terms of a collective agreement.

Programs and services that have not been designated as 'essential' by the Labour Relations Board include recreation and culture programs, special events, parks and sports field maintenance, in-person financial services, for example. The District will share information on impacted services. View the Current Operational and Service Impacts section on this page. 

If District programs, services or facilities are impacted (e.g. if a service is unavailable or a facility is closed for a period of time), information will be shared on this page and notices on facility doors will provide links or contact information if a building is closed. View the Current Operational and Service Impacts section on this page. Information is also being shared through the District's Facebook and Instagram accounts. 

There may be very limited notice to changes, given the situation. View the Current Operational and Service Impacts section on this page for up to date information.

While not fully equal to the wages of metro-sized communities (for management or union staff), this is not a goal that is appropriate for Squamish given our population size and smaller tax base.

Non-Union employees (including managers) receive an annual cost-of-living increase. The average cost-of-living increase over the previous five years for non-Union staff is 2.96% per year (2021 to 2025). 

By comparison, the Union received an 11.5% increase over 2022 (3%), 2023 (4.5%) and 2024 (4%), and a one-time 4.5% cash payment cost-of-living allowance in 2024.

The average cost-of-living increase between 2020 and 2024 was 3% for Unionized employees and 2.82% for Non-Union employees (including managers).

The Union stated that its main focus was twofold: wages and work/life balance. In its latest proposal, the District increased wages for the lowest paid workers; continued to offer enhanced vacation time; and offered compressed hours of work in areas of the organization where operations and customer service would not be negatively affected.