Sex workers in Montreal are going on strike the day before the Canadian Grand Prix to try and get better working conditions.
The group chose their strike date to fall during the weekend of the Canadian Grand Prix because of the amount of footfall the race brings to the city’s clubs.
It is ‘the most lucrative period of the year for our boss,’ the Sex Work Autonomous Committee said.
According to The Athletic, a record 352,000 fans attended across the entire weekend in 2025.
The strike next week will be taking place on the same day as the sprint race and qualifying at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Action is being organised by the Sex Work Autonomous Committee, which says it is calling for better conditions in strip clubs and massage parlours, official recognition of sex workers as workers and access to government benefits for workers.
Sex workers have planned a protest to take place on the day before the Canadian Grand Prix race
Last year saw a record 350,000 fans across the entire weekend of the Candian Grand Prix
The Sex Work Autonomous Committee said that the Grand Prix is the most lucrative weekend
The group also says on their website that they are aiming to end the bar fees that strippers and dancers have to pay for the right to perform on stage.
They are also aiming to end ‘scheduling discrimination’ based on ‘race, gender identity, age or size,’ as well as decriminalising sex work across the country.
“Since we’re not salaried employees, we don’t have access to the protections that other workers usually have,” Montreal stripper Celeste Ivy told the Montreal Gazette.
The Canadian Grand Prix has been held in Montreal since 1978 and F1 recently reached an agreement with the governments of Canada and Quebec to keep the race in Montreal through 2035.
Australian star Oscar Piastri and McLaren enjoyed a resurgence in Japan and Miami after a difficult start to the season.
Piastri claimed the team’s first podium of the season at Suzuka when he finished second to Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.
He followed that up with another second-placed finish in the sprint race at Miami.
In the actual race he would finish third behind McLaren teammate Lando Norris, as the pair have put themselves among the title challengers.
And now he will be hoping to continue his resurgence in Quebec next weekend.
It hasn’t been the happiest of hunting grounds for the Melbourne racing star, he has yet to finish on the podium.
His best result came in the 2025 race where he picked up a fourth place finish after qualifying fourth.
In fact, Piastri has failed to better his starting grid position in his three trips to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
That includes his fourth placed finish from third, a fifth placed finish from fourth and an eleventh placed finish from eighth.
But the McLaren’s race pace looked good in Miami and he will be presented with another opportunity to land on the podium for the first time in Canada.
