Quebec regulator cancels licenses of Montreal developer's firms over chaotic, unsafe sites
Quebec's building regulator, the Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ), has cancelled the contractor licenses of Matériaux de construction Swimko, two other companies tied to Montreal developer Berish Schwimmer and a firm started by the consultant who ran Swimko's sites. The Oct. 19 decision found they lacked the competence and integrity to build.
RBQ hearing commissioner Martine Brodeur found that Swimko had broken the laws governing Quebec construction over and over since 2020, most heavily from 2023 to 2025, and that its sites were chaotic and badly supervised. A workplace safety (CNESST) inspector with about 4,000 site visits behind him testified they were among the worst he had seen. Along with Swimko, the decision cancels the licenses of 6865437 Canada (MBH Construction), Somerled Capital and Groupe AT Construction.
The record from Swimko's condo project on Moishe Avenue in Boisbriand runs long: more than 40 CNESST reports, 69 and 84 correction notices on two of its six buildings, 20 workplace-safety convictions against Swimko from 2018 to 2021 and 16 more charges pending. A December 2023 fire was traced to faulty wiring in a temporary outdoor panel. In March 2024 roof trusses fell and struck a worker because bracing was not installed to the manufacturer's instructions. Weeks later a concrete firewall came down while the site was closed. In Montreal, a heritage facade on Van Horne Avenue that the city had ordered preserved collapsed in February 2024.
Swimko kept working after it was told to stop. RBQ inspectors found crews at Moishe in August 2024 after Swimko lost the license category for warranty-covered new homes, and the construction commission (CCQ) found it working another site in September 2025, after its license had been suspended. Quebec's new-home warranty administrator, GCR, had dropped Swimko in June 2024. In a separate September 2025 ruling, a warranty arbitrator found Swimko had forged buyers' signatures on the warranty contracts for five homes at a Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts project and ordered it to pay one buyer 10,000 Canadian dollars in punitive damages.
Groupe AT took over most of Swimko's unfinished projects in October 2025, including jobs its lawyer valued at 45 million, 8 million and 6 million Canadian dollars. The RBQ found that AT's head had in practice run Swimko's sites and that AT had not changed how the work was done. A cancellation bars a new license application for 12 months.
Why it matters: Quebec holds a company's officers to their record at earlier firms, so moving Swimko's jobs to a new license holder did not save them. Subs and suppliers on these projects should confirm who now holds the contract and a valid license before doing more work.
Sources
- Décision arbitrale : Matériaux de construction Swimko inc. c. Meira Aisenstark (9479-6224 Québec inc.) et GCRGarantie de construction résidentielle (GCR), Sep 23, 2025
- Décision du 19 octobre 2026 concernant l'entreprise Matériaux de construction Swimko inc. et al.Régie du bâtiment du Québec, Oct 19