Québec City Trades Jobs in 2026: Le Chantier Davie et le Réseau CCQ

Québec City trades work has one thing nobody else in Canada has at this scale: a major naval shipyard with a federal-defence multi-decade order book. Davie sits across the river in Lévis but recruits from the entire Quebec City region. Combine that with Hydro-Québec's pull on the larger province, the smaller-but-real residential and commercial construction in the city proper, and you've got a market that's quieter than Montréal but very steady.

The catch is the same as Montréal's: nothing happens without the CCQ.

What's actually hiring in Québec City right now

Chantier Davie (Lévis). Davie became the third large-vessel shipyard under Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy in 2023, joining Irving (Halifax) and Seaspan (Vancouver). Canada awarded Davie the contract for one new Canadian Coast Guard polar icebreaker in March 2025, and construction of Polar Max began in Lévis on March 31, 2026; Davie's NSS work also includes the planned six-vessel Program Icebreaker stream. Active recruitment for welders, pipefitters, electricians, machinists, painters, riggers, and supporting trades runs continuously. Davie is the single largest trades employer in the region, but not all shipyard work is CCQ-covered construction.

Hydro-Québec infrastructure renewal. While the big new dam projects are in northern Québec, the maintenance, refit and grid hardening work runs through electrical, mechanical and industrial trades across the province — and Québec City is one of Hydro-Québec's two main administrative hubs.

Hospital and institutional capital. CHU de Québec - Université Laval and Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec (IUCPQ) network expansions, plus the broader CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale infrastructure program.

Residential and commercial. Slower than Montréal, but the Saint-Roch, Limoilou and Sainte-Foy corridors have steady mid-rise work. The third-link Québec-Lévis tunnel proposal has been on and off — as of 2026 it's in design study phase rather than construction.

Tertiary industrial. Glencore Horne smelter (Rouyn-Noranda — not Québec City but recruits through the region for trades), and the Bécancour battery/EV-supply corridor, which has been pulling industrial trades from the broader Quebec City region.

Trades in demand in the Québec City area

CCQ pools open and close based on declared shortages, and CCQ updates pool status each working day. This page treats the list below as a regional project-demand watchlist, not as a live open-pool claim:

1. Soudeur (Welder) — Davie's primary draw. Pressure tickets and structural CWB both valuable. Welder Québec City | welder resume guide.
2. Tuyauteur (Pipefitter) — Shipboard piping at Davie plus hospital mechanical. Pipefitter Québec City | pipefitter resume guide.
3. Électricien (Construction Electrician) — Shipboard electrical at Davie plus institutional. Electrician Québec City | electrician resume guide.
4. Mécanicien industriel (Millwright) — Davie machine shops, regional industrial. Millwright Québec City | millwright resume guide.
5. Plombier (Plumber) — Hospital and institutional buildout. Plumber Québec City | plumber resume guide.
6. Frigoriste / Refrigeration Mechanic — Commercial and institutional. HVAC Québec City | HVAC resume guide.
7. Ferblantier (Sheet Metal Worker) — Commercial HVAC and ducting.
8. Charpentier-menuisier (Carpenter) — Mid-rise residential and commercial. Carpenter Québec City | carpenter resume guide.
9. Opérateur d'équipement lourd — Civil and infrastructure. HEO Québec City | HEO resume guide.
10. Peintre (Painter) — Davie has significant industrial painting work, distinct from commercial.
11. Mécanicien de machinerie navale — Shipyard-specific, rare and in demand.

How the CCQ system works in Québec

The Quebec system runs on Loi R-20 — the Act Respecting Labour Relations, Vocational Training and Workforce Management in the Construction Industry. To work on any covered construction site you need a competency certificate from the Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ):

• Carte d'apprenti (apprentice card) — Requires a 150-hour employer sponsorship, ASP construction safety course, and an open pool for your trade.
• Compagnon (journeyperson card) — Issued after the apprenticeship hours are complete (typically 8,000 hours over four periods) and the journeyperson exam is passed. Valid 12 months; renews automatically if you worked 14+ of the last 14 months.

The pool (*bassin*) is the gatekeeper. CCQ opens pools only when shortages are formally declared, generally around a 5% threshold based on employer demand. You can register on the CCQ site to be notified when your trade's pool opens.

Davie is an exception worth knowing about. Naval shipyard work at Davie falls partly outside the CCQ-covered construction sector — much of it is industrial shipbuilding under different labour relations and qualification rules. If you're applying directly to Davie rather than through a construction contractor, check Davie's role requirements instead of assuming CCQ construction rates or apprentice-pool rules apply.

For non-construction trades work (factory in-house electrician, refrigeration on service contracts, etc.) you may need an Emploi-Québec/MTESS certificate instead of or in addition to CCQ.

Out-of-province workers: the Canadian Free Trade Agreement and labour mobility provisions allow recognition of your Red Seal — but you still need to register with CCQ, designate a union association, and complete the ASP *Santé et sécurité générale sur les chantiers de construction* (30 hours) unless you have an accepted equivalent.

Language

Québec City sites operate almost entirely in French. Bilingual is uncommon outside of Davie's defence contracts (where English documentation appears for federal customer interface). Québec workers have the right to work in French, and employers must justify non-French language requirements when they are imposed. If you don't speak French, Québec City will be harder than Montréal — but Davie itself does maintain some English-capable supervisory tracks. Functional French is essential for safety documentation, daily coordination and advancement.

What you'll earn — collective agreement rates

CCQ wages are set by sector under the *Décret* — narrow, binding scales rather than wide market ranges. For construction work covered by Loi R-20, the CCQ scale is the pay floor. The table below uses CCQ's wage-rate tool for the Institutional and commercial (IC/I) sector, journeyperson / compagnon tier, except heavy-equipment examples where civil-and-road sector classifications are the better fit. Davie shipyard wages can differ because much of that work is industrial shipbuilding outside R-20 coverage.

Source and as-of date: CCQ wage-rate tool / Wages & Rates, retrieved May 26, 2026, using rates-to-date 2026-05-26; current CCQ construction rates are effective April 26, 2026. CCQ tables are copyright-protected, so this page describes selected journeyperson/occupation references and links to the official scale rather than republishing the full schedule. For non-construction Québec City / Lévis work, use Job Bank's Capitale-Nationale Region (`geo0236`) as market-wage context; for example, Job Bank listed welder NOC 72106 at $22.38 / $28.00 / $35.34 low-median-high as of November 19, 2025, which may understate unionized shipyard premiums.

Who's hiring in the region

Chantier Davie (direct hire and through subcontractors), Hydro-Québec (limited direct hire but consistent contractor demand), Pomerleau (Québec-headquartered — strong regional presence), EBC Inc., Construction Demathieu & Bard, Construction Kiewit Canada, Groupe Magil, Borea Construction, Groupe Hexagone, Bauval, Tisseur, Régulvar, Carmichael Engineering, Wajax Industrial Components, AtkinsRéalis (SNC-Lavalin), Stantec, WSP.

For Davie's defence work specifically: subcontractors include Heddle Marine (when joint-venturing), Hatch, BMT, and specialized welding, painting and electrical shops that ramp with each program milestone.

The reality nobody mentions

Davie's order book is enormous on paper but the work moves in pulses tied to milestone delivery. A welder hired during steel cutting for a vessel will have steady work for 18–24 months, then need to move with the next program. The shipyard's not like a refinery with continuous M&O — it builds, delivers, and rolls onto the next hull. Plan your career timeline around that rhythm.

Where to start

If you hold a CCQ compagnon card, keep it active by working 14 of the trailing 14 months or applying for renewal. If you're entering from another province, your first step is CCQ recognition — and getting your file in front of contractor recruiters before the next pool opens.

Drop your resume into your TradeCraft profile and we'll surface you by CCQ classification, union affiliation, language capability and travel preference to Québec City and Lévis recruiters.

Join the worker waitlist.