Thousands of public, private sector employees to work from office again in 2026

The new year will bring some big changes to office work rules for many workers across the country — including thousands of provincial government workers in Ontario and Alberta who will soon have to return to the office full-time.

Starting January 5, Ontario provincial government employees will be expected to work in the office five days per week.

Alberta’s public service is also returning to full-time, office work in February to “strengthen collaboration, accountability and service delivery to Albertans,” an Alberta government spokesperson said.

While several provinces, including Manitoba, British Columbia and New Brunswick, maintain more flexible hybrid work rules, others are reviewing their policies.

A spokesperson for the Newfoundland and Labrador government said the province is considering its remote work policy.

The Northwest Territories government is also reviewing its remote work policy, although a spokesperson said there are no plans to require employees to return to the workplace five days a week.

Plan to get into ‘clear perspective’

It is still unclear when, or by how much, federal public servants will have to increase their office presence. Prime Minister Mark Carney promised last month that a plan would soon come into “clear vision”.

Carney said his government would be “negotiating with public sector unions on the modalities” of the back-to-office policy, with details of the plan to be made public “over the course of the next several weeks”.

Carney gave some clues about his thinking on the issue. He also said the amount of time civil servants would be expected to spend in office would depend on individual roles and seniority.

As per the current rule, applicable from September 2024, federal public servants will have to work in office for at least three days a week, while officers will have to work in office four days per week.

Treasury Board President Shafqat Ali told The Canadian Press in December that the federal government has not worked out the details of its promised return to office plan. He said talks were taking place within the government, but “nothing has been decided.”

return to room

Several banks, including BMO, Scotiabank and RBC, have already asked their employees to increase their office attendance to four days per week.

Other private sector companies are also changing their policies. For example, Amazon is requiring its corporate employees to be in the office five days per week starting January 2.

Provincial and federal public sector unions have protested the order to return to office.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which represents about 40,000 public servants, said in a news release in August that the provincial government decided to order all of its employees back to the office full-time “without considering the realities facing front-line public service workers.”

In a statement, Canada’s largest federal union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said Ottawa’s push for federal employees to spend more time in their offices is “far out of touch with what is best for employees and taxpayers.”

“If this government tries to make sweeping changes to remote work in the middle of bargaining, we will oppose them. There is nothing wrong with them – we will challenge them in court and in our workplaces,” the statement said.

Katherine Connelly, professor and business research chair in the department of human resources and management at McMaster University, said more protests from unions can be expected in the coming months.

“A lot of their members really like working from home and they want to have the option to work remotely,” Connelly said.

Connelly said some employees find that working remotely helps them save money and be more productive. Others may find that remote work undermines their work-life balance, he said, or they aren’t able to make as many connections in the workplace as they would.

Conley said he’s not sure whether private-sector pressure to increase the presence of office workers will continue, as companies realize that their most talented employees value flexibility.

He said companies can start improving their remote work policies by adding more rules for employees working from home — such as requiring care for children under a certain age or mandating that employees be available for a certain period of time.

Municipalities have been divided over the issue of remote work, which has had a variety of impacts on their economies.

In the National Capital Region, where a large number of public servants live, many downtown businesses suffered losses as government employees worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, while many areas outside the Ottawa core saw increases.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said he thinks it’s possible to add another day or two to the office. He said the city is working on expanding transit options and opening the next phase of its light-rail system.

“I look forward to seeing how the (return to office) plans are implemented,” Sutcliffe said in December. “We want to see our city thriving and prosperous. It’s been a challenging time over the last few years since COVID.”

Liberal MP Bruce Fanjoy, who represents eastern Ontario with more than 10,000 public servants, said he expects there will be “flexibility” when workers return to the office. This, he said, would allow the federal government to hire and attract employees, manage its office space and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“A lot of the problems we have in cities are because we require everyone to live in a very small space,” Fanjoy said last month. “Having a bit more of a spread of public servants, it’s good for all the economies of our local communities.”