Tools down, feet up!

Summer vacation closing. We will be closed from July 22nd to August 13th.

Recently I have been reminded of my experiences in Europe, where small businesses would shut their doors and put up a handwritten sign in the window saying they were closed for vacation. In the summer especially, around July/August, businesses and city life seemed to collectively grind to a halt so that everyone could go on vacation at the same time.

It's certainly not that pronounced here in Québec, but the exodus of people from the city in the summer is still noticeable, particularly around late July and early August, when many small businesses close for 2 to 3 weeks at a time. Lots of businesses, from the pizza shop to the bakery to the café, started putting up their “summer vacation” announcements in early July.

The timing of this is partly driven by the so-called “construction holiday,” which originates from a 1970 Quebec government decree that all construction workers throughout the province receive a mandatory 2-week paid summer holiday. It is no longer legally mandated, but it remains guaranteed through collective bargaining agreements between trade unions and management.

The exact dates have varied over the years, but for this year it is July 21 to August 3. Some 193,000 construction workers benefit from this break, and they receive vacation pay during this time. It has spilled over the rest of the economy, and it is estimated one quarter of the Québec workforce take vacation during this time. Many travel within the province, to Québec City or Charlevoix or areas of the countryside, boosting the local economy.

There is another construction holiday during the winter (from December 22 to January 4) but less construction is happening during that time. It’s definitely a different vibe from America, where it’s rare for any business to close for more than a day or two at a time (if even that), and many workers have only two weeks of vacation time for the entire year.