Law360 Canada ( November 6, 2026, 2:43 PM EST) -- Appeal by Attorney General of Quebec (AGQ) from Court of Appeal of Quebec’s (Court of Appeal’s) judgment upholding refusal to certify 14 inspectors and graders at Montreal Branch (Branch) of SGS Canada inc. (SGS) under Quebec Labour Code. The parties disputed which level of government had jurisdiction over the labour relations of a group of employees working for SGS, a testing, inspection and certification company servicing different industries in Canada. The Syndicat des travailleuses et travailleurs des industries manufacturières – CSN had applied to represent the employees. The Administrative Labour Tribunal dismissed the application, having found derivative federal jurisdiction, and the Superior Court dismissed judicial review. The Court of Appeal found direct jurisdiction and, alternatively, derivative jurisdiction. The Branch inspected and graded grain for six Quebec grain elevators declared federal works under s. 55(1) of the Canada Grain Act. It spent about 90 percent of its time serving those elevators, including its largest client, Viterra, and conducted testing during grain loading. The Branch had its own finances, infrastructure, offices and employees, who had not depended on employees of other branches to perform their work. The AGQ argued that similar services elsewhere in SGS prevented the Branch from being treated as a distinct unit, that SGS had not operated an elevator, and that insufficient work for any single elevator had been established to support derivative jurisdiction. SGS argued that the Branch was distinct, that the elevators continuously relied on its services, and that both direct and derivative jurisdiction applied....