The construction industry in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon—France’s small North Atlantic archipelago off Canada—says it is running out of time.
In a radio morning show interview on June 19, 2026, Roger Hélène, president of the local federation representing building and public works companies, delivered a blunt warning about what he sees as the stakes for the territory. “The archipelago of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is also a child of France. It is dying if nothing happens,” he said.
At the center of the alarm: a lack of clear, predictable public contracts. Hélène said the local building and public works sector is effectively stalled without a readable schedule of government-funded projects—work that many firms rely on to plan staffing and keep crews employed.
A “structural” problem, not a temporary slowdown
Hélène repeatedly described the situation as “structural,” arguing it is rooted in how the territory is organized and how public procurement is planned, rather than a short-term dip in activity.
Without a calendar of upcoming public tenders, he said, local companies cannot plan workloads or maintain their teams. “The territory’s structural deficit is glaring,” Hélène said, calling on public authorities to respond.
He stressed the federation is not asking for an exceptional subsidy. Instead, it wants visibility—programming of public works projects that would allow the archipelago’s contractors and tradespeople to keep working.
63 companies, nearly 400 workers—and a fragile local economy
Hélène framed the issue as existential in a place where each job carries outsized weight. “Construction and public works in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon isn’t just an economic sector, it’s also local employment for families,” he said during the interview.
The federation represents 63 companies employing nearly 400 workers. On an isolated archipelago of about 6,000 residents, a sharp contraction in construction would quickly ripple across the broader economy. And once specialized skills leave, Hélène warned, they are difficult to rebuild in such a remote territory.
The federation says it will keep pressing officials
Hélène closed with a pledge to stay engaged: “Our federation, we will always be there to defend this sector and defend its jobs.”
The local industry’s predicament mirrors challenges seen in other French overseas territories, where construction depends heavily on public contracts and where budget constraints at the state and local levels can shrink or delay investment. The federation says it is now waiting for a concrete response from public authorities on the schedule of upcoming projects.
