Game workers at Ubisoft Halifax file to unionize with CWA Canada

Video game workers at Ubisoft’s Halifax studio have filed to unionize with CWA Canada, in the latest push by video game workers in North America to seek collective bargaining rights amid growing industry instability.

The union submitted its application to the Nova Scotia Labour Board on Tuesday after a majority of the roughly 60-person team signed union cards. If certified, the bargaining unit would cover a wide range of roles, including producers, programmers, designers, artists, researchers, and development testers.

The move follows a similar unionization effort last year at ZeniMax/Bethesda-Microsoft in Montreal, where about 120 game workers joined the same union.

“Unionizing with my coworkers at Ubisoft Halifax is important to me so that we have the strength needed to protect what we have today and to fight for our tomorrow,” Senior Server Programmer Thomas Gillis said. “With no end in sight to the industry-wide turbulence that sees studios shutter on releasing games fans love, it is up to us, the workers, to organize and demand a say in our labour, art and future.”

CWA Canada President Carmel Smyth said the union was “delighted” to welcome the Halifax group, calling them “part of a generation that is making life at work so much better for everyone.”

The announcement includes a mission statement from Ubisoft Halifax workers emphasizing their pride in the studio’s diversity, near-gender parity, and inclusive culture. “We are unionizing not in opposition to Ubisoft, but in partnership,” the workers said, describing the move as a way to reinforce values of equity and collaboration.

Benjamin Parton, Head of ICTS at UNI Global Union, praised the filing as a “milestone for the Canadian games sector.”

“This is yet another sign that workers across the games industry—whether in AAA studios or smaller teams—are stepping up to demand real power and protection in a volatile sector,” said Parton. “Ubisoft Halifax workers are setting an example that will resonate well beyond Nova Scotia.”

The labour board is expected to schedule a secret ballot vote in the coming weeks. If successful, it would mark the latest chapter in a growing movement of unionization among game developers across North America.