SNC-Lavalin warned of U.S. move, slashing workforce if no plea deal, documents show

Quebec engineering firm warned it would move abroad within a year, cut workforce in Canada to 3,500

Documents indicate that SNC-Lavalin's Montreal headquarters, shown here, could move abroad within a year if it fails to avoid criminal prosecution. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

SNC-Lavalin warned federal prosecutors last fall about a possible plan to split the company in two, move its offices to the United States and eliminate its Canadian workforce if it didn't get a deal to avoid criminal prosecution, newly obtained documents show.

The documents, part of a PowerPoint presentation obtained by The Canadian Press, describe something called "Plan B" — what Montreal-based SNC might have to do if it can't convince the government to grant a so-called remediation agreement to avoid criminal proceedings in a fraud and corruption case related to projects in Libya.

Under that plan, SNC would move its Montreal headquarters and corporate offices in Ontario and Quebec to the U.S. within a year, cutting its workforce to just 3,500 from 8,717, before eventually winding up its Canadian operations.

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