Amazon has announced plans to close all of its Quebec facilities, laying off 1,700 permanent employees, months after workers in Laval, Que., made history by unionizing. Experts say the move could prompt legal challenges under Quebec labour laws.

Amazon.com said it is open to talks with officials from the Canadian and Quebec governments about the decision to shut down operations in the country’s French-speaking province, which would lead to 1,

A Canadian union that successfully unionized one warehouse accused the company of closing its sites to fend off organizing efforts in the region.

The online retail giant said the move was not linked to recent unionization efforts by workers in the Canadian province.

Canada has warned Amazon.com that it is reviewing business ties with the company’s cloud-computing unit following Amazon’s decision to shut down its warehouses in Quebec, leading to the layoff of 1,700 workers.

Global News reported that New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh said of the closures: “What is happening in Quebec is very clearly Amazon trying to union-bust. These are workers that were trying to unionize, and Amazon is shutting down operations in the complete region, just to stop them from demanding fairness."

The federal industry minister is calling for a review of Ottawa's "business relationship" with Amazon after the company said it will close all seven of its warehouses in Quebec.