By Abdul Matin Sarfraz | Canada’s National Observer
When Sean O’Reilly left his small town in the Maritimes 25 years ago for an Ottawa job, working from home wasn’t an option.
“The technology didn’t exist, and if you wanted a public service career in Ottawa, you had to relocate,” he recalls.
Now president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), he splits his week between home and the office — and says the flexibility makes him more productive while improving his work-life balance.
“If I have a day of virtual meetings, there’s no reason to sit in a downtown office. Technology lets me do my job anywhere, without losing hours to traffic,” O’Reilly told Canada’s National Observer.
O’Reilly and PIPSC, representing over 70,000 scientists and professionals, are opposing Premier Doug Ford’s recent plan to end hybrid work. Earlier this month, Ford ordered Ontario’s 60,000 public servants to work in their offices at least four days a week, starting this fall, and return to offices full-time by January, saying it will improve productivity and help revive downtown businesses.
“How do you mentor someone over a phone? You can’t,” Ford told reporters, adding that small businesses near government offices have suffered without the steady flow of workers. Since April 2022, about half of Ontario’s provincial workforce has been allowed to work from home up to two days a week under the province’s post-pandemic return-to-office plan.
O’Reilly, the PIPSC and other critics believe Ford’s decision makes no sense: They say the premier’s arguments aren’t backed by evidence and ignore costs like more congestion, higher emissions, and the risk of losing skilled staff to more flexible employers.
Critics contend that Premier Doug Ford’s decision makes no sense and his arguments aren’t backed by evidence while ignoring downsides such more congestion, higher emissions and the risk of losing skilled staff to more flexible employers.
Ontario’s decision comes as some jurisdictions are also tightening hybrid policies. The federal government now requires core public service employees in the office at least three days a week and executives four, despite internal Treasury Board documents from 2022 recommending a “flexible first” approach with no fixed office rules.
In the private sector, banks like TD, BMO and Scotiabank require four days in office, Rogers plans to require five days next year, and Starbucks has told Canadian corporate staff to work in the office at least four days a week. In the US, President Donald Trump has ordered federal employees back full-time, warning “back to the office or you’re fired.”
In contrast, Australia’s state of Victoria plans to legislate a right to work from home at least two days a week by 2026, citing benefits to productivity, family life and the economy.
What the data shows
The Ontario Public Service’s 2022 employee survey found 68 per cent said most or all of their work could be done remotely, while only nine per cent needed to be on-site full-time. Nearly 86 per cent preferred either hybrid or fully remote work.
A national poll for the Public Service Alliance of Canada also found 81 per cent of Canadians think remote work is good for employees, 68 per cent say hybrid work boosts productivity and 63 per cent want flexibility so managers and staff can decide what works best.
The CSA Public Policy Centre estimates that shifting eligible Canadians to remote work full-time could cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by 8.6 megatonnes — equal to the carbon footprint of more than 600,000 people. In the Greater Toronto Area, highway speeds rose by five to 40 km/h during peak times in 2020 when remote work was widespread, largely because there were fewer cars on the road, saving commuters an average of 65 minutes daily.
Who could be hurt?
Maria Gintova, assistant professor at McMaster University, is researching hybrid work and diversity in the Ontario Public Service. She says Ford’s plan is political and not based on evidence. Her research suggests losing flexible work will hit women, caregivers and Indigenous employees hardest.
For some Indigenous workers, being able to remain close to their land is essential. For caregivers, extra commuting time adds stress and cost. Skilled digital and policy staff — already hard to recruit — are more likely to leave for employers with better flexibility, she said. “Some participants have already told us they resigned after being told to return full-time,” Gintova said.
The mandate contradicts the Ford government’s own commitments to diversity, inclusion and mental health, she added.
“The government says it wants to be a great employer, value mental health and create opportunities for racialized employees — but this decision shows there was no real consideration of those priorities,” Gintova said.
Hybrid work helps more than downtown
Ford has also urged municipalities to follow his lead, but Toronto’s ModernTO program shows hybrid work can save money and cut emissions. By consolidating 55 office sites to 15, the city expects to save $30 million annually, free up $450 million in land value for affordable housing projects and shrink its carbon footprint.
Ford argues having provincial employees return to the office will boost Ontario’s economy, particularly in downtown Toronto. “I believe everyone’s more productive when they’re at work… plus the economy too,” Ford said. “I’ll just use downtown Toronto, for example — there’s hard working entrepreneurs that their businesses basically just died when they weren’t seeing the flow of traffic. All the companies I’ve talked to, from the banks to insurance companies to everyone else, everyone needs to go back to work.”
He added these companies have told him they are also bringing their employees back to the office.
Dave Bulmer, president of AMAPCEO, a union representing over 17,000 provincial employees, says hybrid work strengthens local economies by allowing workers to spend in both their home communities and downtown.
“The downtown economy is not the responsibility of public servants,” Bulmer said. “When our members work two days a week from home in North York, Oshawa or Guelph, they’re supporting their local communities. When they’re downtown for the other three days, they contribute there, too. The economy is better served when people are spending in multiple places, not just the core.”
Bulmer said AMAPCEO members have indicated they would leave their jobs if flexibility is removed. This would make it harder to attract new talent, especially since many graduates expect remote or hybrid options, and technology makes full-time office attendance unnecessary in many jobs, he added.
A recent survey by PIPSC highlights major concerns among federal public service workers about the new return-to-office mandate. Fewer than 30 per cent of respondents have a dedicated workstation, and less than half feel their current working conditions meet their needs.
The survey also found that 50 per cent of racialized employees, LGBTQ2S+ workers and people with disabilities are likely or extremely likely to consider leaving the public service because of the directive.
One of the government’s main arguments — that in-office work improves collaboration — also isn’t backed by PIPSC data. The union says 91 per cent of members are in virtual meetings most or all of the time, often spending the day on video calls even when they’re in the same building as their colleagues.
Based on the findings, PIPSC is urging the federal government to work with unions to create more flexible, forward-looking policies that better reflect the modern workplace.
For O’Reilly, the debate is straightforward: “This isn’t about whether people are working — they’ve been working all along. It’s about where they can do their best work. Taking away that choice hurts employees, hurts communities and hurts the environment.”
