Union files Labour Board complaint over Ubisoft Halifax Shutdown

HALIFAX (Jan. 13, 2026) – CWA Canada has filed a legal complaint accusing video game giant Ubisoft of shutting down its Halifax studio to keep out the union.

Today’s complaint to the Nova Scotia Labour Board comes after Ubisoft closed its Halifax operation last Wednesday, just three weeks after CWA Canada was certified to represent 61 of the 71 workers there.

Ubisoft denied the closure was related to the union, blaming declining revenue and corporate restructuring. But CWA Canada noted the sudden decision took everyone by surprise, unlike typical economic cuts where employers provide notice and financial backup to prove hardship.

The union has vowed to keep fighting for better compensation and new jobs for the laid-off workers. Last week, CWA Canada lawyers called Ubisoft demanding records and information related to its claim that the decision was based solely on financial necessity.

“It’s against the law to stop workers from joining a union in Canada, but the slap on the wrist employers often get is not enough to stop this,” CWA Canada President Carmel Smyth said. “The penalty should reflect the reality of intentional corporate bullying.”

The union says labour law should be updated to expressly give labour boards the power to force employers to reopen for a year, and help find alternate work for staff, or pay laid-off workers three years’ salary – things that could have been negotiated in a union contract.

“Boosting the penalty is the only way to stop these global giants like Ubisoft, Amazon, Walmart and Microsoft from bullying workers by shutting down while scouring the globe for cheaper locations, and more tax money,” Smyth said. “Canadians build these products and Canadian consumers buy them, we deserve better.”

“Ubisoft took $12 million in taxpayer money from the government of Nova Scotia to nurture a generation of talent, and to build a tech industry. Now it’s walking away without so much as an apology.”

France-based Ubisoft is one of the world’s most successful game-developing companies, employing 17,000 people globally, including over 4,000 in Toronto, Winnipeg and four cities in Quebec.

Ubisoft Halifax includes producers, programmers, designers, artists, researchers and development testers. They are part of CWA Canada Local 30111, which includes nearly 120 game workers at Bethesda Game Studios (BGS) in Montreal, and staff at the Montreal Gazette newspaper.

CWA Canada is the country’s only all-media union, representing 6,000 workers at the CBC, The Canadian Press, and newspapers, tech, digital media, video gaming, and other companies coast to coast.