The shift towards remote and hybrid work arrangements, accelerated by the pandemic, continues to influence the Canadian labour market. Although the overall number of Canadians working from home has decreased since the lifting of most pandemic-related restrictions in 2022, certain telework trends persist, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
As of June 2024, 15.1% of employees reported working most of their hours from home, a significant drop from the 21.5% recorded in June 2022.
This decline primarily reflects a reduction in employees whose primary work location is within the same city or a nearby area, which fell by 6.4 percentage points to 11.4% over the two-year period.
However, the data reveals an increasing proportion of teleworkers whose work location is beyond a commutable distance. In June 2024, nearly a quarter (24.2%) of those working primarily from home reported to a remote work location, an increase from 17.2% in June 2022.
These figures indicate a growing segment of the workforce opting for more geographically distant work arrangements, suggesting enduring changes in the nature of telework.