More than 3,000 TELUS employees across Canada have secured a new collective agreement delivering wage increases totalling 12.25%, stronger job protections and new restrictions on workplace GPS tracking. Ratified on November 2, 2026, the agreement represents an important development for unionized telecommunications workers facing concerns about job security, changing workplace expectations and the use of employee monitoring technology.
The deal, approved by 83% of participating voters, also introduces safeguards for pensions and benefits, limits certain long-distance employee transfers and establishes new commitments involving work brought back to Canada. Reached months before the existing contract expires, the agreement provides greater certainty for employees while addressing workplace issues that extend far beyond wages.
TELUS Workers Approve New Contract With 83% Support
The new agreement was ratified by members of United Steelworkers Local 1944, which represents approximately 3,000 TELUS employees working across British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. TELUS describes the agreement as covering more than 3,000 employees nationally. The affected workforce includes call centre representatives, technical support employees and technicians responsible for maintaining telecommunications infrastructure and providing services to residential and business customers. Union members approved the contract with 83% of ballots cast supporting the deal. The result followed several virtual ratification meetings, during which employees had the opportunity to review the proposed terms and decide whether the agreement adequately addressed their priorities. The strong approval provides an indication that most participating workers considered the negotiated improvements worthwhile, particularly given the uncertainty that has surrounded employment conditions in parts of the telecommunications industry.
The timing is another important element of the agreement. Negotiators reached a tentative deal in October 2026, approximately five months before the previous collective agreement was scheduled to expire on March 31, 2027. The replacement contract runs from April 1, 2027, through December 31, 2031, establishing a four-year-and-nine-month term. For employees, having a contract settled ahead of the deadline reduces the immediate uncertainty associated with prolonged negotiations and potential labour disruption. Union president Michael Phillips identified workplace stability and employment security as central objectives throughout the bargaining process. TELUS also welcomed the outcome, emphasizing the value of labour stability for its operations and customer service. Both parties presented the agreement as the result of constructive negotiations, although its lasting significance will depend on how the new protections operate in practice.
Workers Secure 12.25% in Wage Increases Through 2031
The most immediate financial headline is the agreement’s 12.25% total in scheduled general wage increases. Rather than providing a single adjustment, the contract establishes five annual increases beginning in October 2027. Workers are scheduled to receive a 3% increase on October 1, 2027, followed by 2.75% in October 2028 and 2.5% in October 2029. Further increases of 2% are scheduled for October 2030 and October 2031. These five percentage increases add up to 12.25 percentage points, with the actual cumulative growth in an individual’s wage rate also reflecting the effect of successive increases. For illustration, an employee earning $30 an hour immediately before the first adjustment would see that rate rise to $30.90 after a 3% increase, assuming the scheduled adjustment applies without other changes. The raises are therefore spread across the contract rather than arriving immediately upon ratification.
The union has described the wage package as its strongest percentage-based increase negotiated with TELUS since the 1990s. According to the bargaining committee, it also marks the first agreement since 2011–2015 to deliver general wage increases in five consecutive years. This distinction matters because previous agreements sometimes relied on lump-sum payments or included concessions in exchange for compensation improvements. Under the new arrangement, employees receive scheduled adjustments to their regular wage rates while the union reports that it did not agree to new concessions. However, the real purchasing-power improvement will ultimately depend on inflation over the years ahead. Wage increases can provide meaningful relief for household expenses, but their ability to improve living standards depends on how quickly the cost of housing, groceries, transportation and other necessities changes during the same period.
New GPS Tracking Restrictions Aim to Protect Employees From Excessive Surveillance
One of the agreement’s most significant workplace changes concerns the use of GPS and vehicle telematics information during disciplinary investigations. Under the new provisions, when TELUS investigates alleged misuse of company time involving covered Customer Solutions Delivery technicians, management’s use of vehicle-related GPS or telematics data for disciplinary purposes is limited to the 90 working days immediately preceding notice of the investigative meeting. This establishes a defined lookback period for certain investigations involving employees whose work regularly takes them away from traditional office environments. For technicians travelling between customer properties, network infrastructure and other service locations, vehicle tracking can provide detailed records of movements throughout the workday. While this information may serve legitimate operational purposes, the union has argued that extensive historical tracking can create unfair risks when employees face questions about their performance or use of company time.
Importantly, the agreement does not prohibit TELUS from using GPS technology or eliminate its authority to investigate workplace misconduct. The restriction applies to a specified category of disciplinary investigations, and the negotiated language preserves the company’s ability to address misconduct where warranted. Nevertheless, establishing a limit on how far back certain tracking records may be examined represents a meaningful contractual safeguard. The development also reflects a wider discussion about workplace surveillance in Canada. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada recommends that employee monitoring be reasonable, proportionate, transparent and limited to legitimate purposes. Its guidance specifically recognizes that electronic monitoring may involve tracking company vehicles or evaluating employee productivity. For workers, the TELUS provision offers an additional layer of protection by placing a negotiated restriction on certain uses of monitoring data rather than relying entirely on company discretion.
New Performance Review Procedures Could Reduce Disputes Involving Technicians
Beyond the GPS limitation, the agreement establishes new procedures intended to make performance expectations clearer and more consistent for certain TELUS technicians. The provisions cover professional services and communications technicians working within Customer Solutions Delivery, with particular attention to how employees document their time and account for periods without assigned work. Under the agreement, TELUS management must organize two focus groups within six months of ratification, with the union entitled to appoint two technicians to each group. These discussions are intended to identify areas where employees may face confusion about time coding, documentation requirements and the productive use of unassigned time, sometimes referred to as “whitespace.” Feedback will be shared with the union and used to help clarify expectations, improve communication and support more consistent management practices across the affected workforce.
The agreement also requires TELUS to reinforce performance expectations within 120 days after the focus-group exercise is completed, followed by additional reminders in subsequent calendar years. This creates a structured opportunity for employees to understand how their performance is assessed before disagreements become serious. A field technician, for example, may encounter unexpected complications during a service appointment that make the working day different from the original schedule. Clearer documentation requirements can help distinguish legitimate operational circumstances from actual performance concerns. The negotiated provisions emphasize identifying and correcting problems before they become severe enough to threaten employment. However, they do not guarantee that every employee will receive coaching before disciplinary action, particularly in cases involving serious misconduct. Their practical value will depend on consistent communication, fair management decisions and the willingness of both parties to address problems before they escalate.
Stronger Job Protections Follow Controversial Ontario Relocation Dispute
The agreement introduces protections against long-distance employee transfers, an issue that became particularly controversial at TELUS in 2024. During that year, approximately 150 Ontario call centre employees faced the possibility of relocating to Montreal after the company announced changes to its operations, including the closure of its Barrie contact centre. Workers were presented with options involving relocation, alternative employment or separation packages. The union criticized the arrangement, arguing that employees could effectively lose their jobs because moving to another province was impractical. In its October 2026 bargaining materials, the union stated that only one affected employee ultimately relocated, while the others accepted severance packages. The experience became a central example of the job-security concerns the bargaining committee wanted to address, particularly for employees whose responsibilities could be performed remotely.
Under the new agreement, additional protections apply when TELUS initiates a permanent transfer to a workplace more than 150 kilometres from an employee’s existing location. If a restructuring affects more than five regular employees in specified call centre positions, eligible workers must be offered an opportunity to perform their jobs permanently from home when TELUS reasonably determines that the full duties can be performed virtually. Approved arrangements remain subject to performance expectations. Where that provision does not apply, affected regular employees can identify up to three preferred redeployment locations from available company options, with TELUS required to make reasonable efforts to accommodate qualified workers. The agreement does not prevent every transfer or require the company to create new positions. However, it provides additional alternatives when restructuring threatens to leave employees choosing between an impractical move and the loss of their employment.
Pension Contributions and Employee Benefits Receive Additional Safeguards
The collective agreement also addresses concerns about the long-term value of employee benefits, an important consideration for workers whose financial security depends on more than regular wages. One provision establishes protections against significant reductions to TELUS’s Flex Benefits Plan. If changes to employee co-insurance costs, deductibles or coverage maximums exceed specified thresholds, the company must provide eligible employees with a contribution to their health spending accounts. This adjustment can reach a maximum of $250 per employee per benefit plan year, depending on the estimated impact of the changes. The protection is not an automatic annual payment, nor does it prevent TELUS from modifying its benefits programs. Instead, it creates a financial safeguard when qualifying changes make coverage materially less valuable for employees. The negotiated thresholds can also be reached through cumulative adjustments over the contract’s duration.
Retirement savings receive additional attention through provisions protecting TELUS’s contribution percentages under its defined contribution pension arrangements. The bargaining materials identify a maximum matching contribution of up to 6% for employees covered by the relevant pension plan, with negotiated protections against reductions extending through December 31, 2031. The agreement also establishes rules preventing certain changes to company benefit and performance bonus programs from unfairly singling out bargaining-unit employees. These protections matter because changes to pension contributions or health coverage can affect household finances long after an annual wage increase has been absorbed into everyday expenses. For employees approaching retirement, maintaining employer pension contributions may be particularly important. For families relying on workplace health insurance, restrictions on major benefit reductions can offer greater predictability when budgeting for prescriptions, dental care and other recurring health expenses.
TELUS Makes New Commitments on Bringing Offshore Work Back to Canada
Another important component of the agreement concerns work that TELUS previously moved outside Canada. Under the new provisions, if the company considers bringing certain previously offshored responsibilities back into its Canadian operations, it must meet with the union in advance to review opportunities for that work to be performed by employees covered by the collective agreement. TELUS must provide relevant information about the proposed work and make every effort to prioritize assignments within existing bargaining-unit job classifications. The provision is intended to address concerns about employment opportunities being lost when work is transferred elsewhere and later returned without necessarily being assigned to union-represented employees. For call centre representatives and technical support staff, decisions about where work is performed can have direct implications for future hiring, staffing levels and career opportunities within Canada.
The commitment contains an important limitation: it does not require TELUS to bring previously offshored operations back to Canada. It also does not expand the existing scope of the union’s bargaining unit. Instead, the agreement establishes a process for consultation and prioritization when the company independently considers reshoring work. That distinction is significant because the provision should not be interpreted as a promise of immediate Canadian job creation or a reversal of previous outsourcing decisions. Nevertheless, giving union representatives earlier access to discussions about potential reshoring creates an opportunity to advocate for domestic employees before final staffing decisions are made. The longer-term importance will depend on whether TELUS actually returns work to Canada and how the new consultation requirements influence those decisions. For affected workers, the central concern remains whether future business changes will translate into stronger employment opportunities.
Agreement Contains No New Concessions, but Some Disputes Remain Unresolved
The union has characterized the contract as its first improved agreement with TELUS in more than 25 years, emphasizing that the bargaining committee secured meaningful gains without accepting new contractual concessions. However, its detailed information package also makes clear that negotiators did not achieve every objective. As part of the overall settlement, the parties agreed to resolve two outstanding grievances involving the company’s NEO scheduling policy and its medical leave with pay policy. The union indicated that success at arbitration on those matters would have been challenging, and the grievances are being withdrawn. Under the resulting arrangements, scheduling rules continue to permit shifts on any day of the week, while the medical leave policy continues to be administered as before. These details illustrate that an agreement can deliver improvements in several major areas without resolving every workplace concern raised by employees.
The distinction is important when evaluating what the new contract will mean over its nearly five-year duration. Workers have secured scheduled wage increases, new restrictions on certain GPS-based investigations and additional safeguards involving benefits, redeployment and reshoring. TELUS, meanwhile, retains considerable flexibility over operational decisions, including staffing requirements, disciplinary investigations and changes to company programs within the negotiated rules. The agreement therefore represents a framework for managing those interests rather than eliminating every possible source of disagreement. Its success will ultimately be measured through everyday workplace decisions: whether managers apply the new protections consistently, whether employees receive clear performance expectations and whether contractual safeguards provide meaningful support during future restructuring. For more than 3,000 affected TELUS employees, the agreement offers a stronger foundation for workplace stability through the end of 2031, even as the telecommunications industry continues to evolve.
