Mandate comes into effect on September 9
Canada has ordered its federal workforce back to the office, aiming to breathe new life into the country’s struggling downtown areas, where empty offices have hit local economies hard.
Starting next week, government employees will be required to return to the office at least three days a week, as part of a broader push to boost real estate demand in downtown offices.
In March, Ontario Premier Doug Ford also made an urgent plea for workers to return to downtown offices, saying that remote work has left many downtowns hollow.
“It sounds crazy. I’m begging people to go to work for three days — not that they aren’t working at home, but it really affects the downtown,” Ford said during a press conference alongside mayor of Ottawa Mark Sutcliffe.
The mandate, enforced by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), will require public sector workers to be in the office at least three days per week, while executives are expected to work four days on-site. The policy, known as the “prescribed presence” directive, officially goes into effect on September 9.
Hollowed-out offices
In December 2022, business leaders from various industries called on the government to end its remote work policies, citing concerns over the economic impact on cities. They pointed to hollowed-out downtowns where fewer workers meant less spending in local businesses, from restaurants to retail stores.
The effects of remote work on Canada’s real estate market have been profound. As workers left major urban centres, they brought their spending power with them, causing demand for real estate in smaller towns to surge while office spaces in big cities remained vacant.
For example, in Toronto, office vacancies reached a record high, with one-fifth of the available space sitting empty. Calgary and Ottawa have also seen vacancy rates double or triple pre-pandemic levels, and even Halifax, despite its population growth, has 1 in 7 square feet of office space unoccupied.
Workers resist mandate
Not all workers are on board with the return-to-office mandate. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), representing 240,000 federal workers, has pushed back, calling the policy "arbitrary" and out of touch with modern work realities.
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A recent PSAC survey found that 91% of respondents opposed the mandate, with top concerns including commuting costs, work-life balance, and the environmental impact of returning to the office.
The PSAC has also taken legal action, and a Federal Court hearing has been granted, allowing the matter to be heard publicly. While this doesn’t reverse the mandate, it opens up the possibility of further legal challenges.
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