City of Ottawa to require all employees in the office 5 days a week starting in January

The City of Ottawa says all employees will be required to work in the office five days a week, starting in January. CTV’s Austin Lee reports.

All City of Ottawa employees will be required to be in the office five days a week starting on Jan. 1, as the city ends hybrid work arrangements for municipal employees.

In a memo to council Tuesday afternoon, City Manager Wendy Stephanson announced the city will return to “five days in the office as the new standard for all City employees.”

“The Senior Leadership Team regularly reviews our hybrid work approach against industry best practices and comparable public sector employers to ensure our workforce policies continue to evolve and align with any changes to broader standards,” Stephanson said.

“The collective return to a five-day office standard for all City employees will help strengthen the organizational culture and build confidence and trust in the City’s ability to continue to provide responsive and reliable service to the public.”

The move to end hybrid work arrangements for City of Ottawa employees comes one week after Premier Doug Ford urged municipalities to bring workers back to the office five days a week.

“It will help bring the public service and the municipalities closer to the people they serve and will revitalize our workplaces in downtowns across Ontario,” Ford said during a speech at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa.

Last October, the city said its hybrid employees were required to be in the office a minimum of two days per week. Stephanson says approximately 85 per cent of city staff are “onsite or in the workplace each day to provide services to residents.”

“The City of Ottawa values in-person work as the foundation for collaboration, organizational culture and excellent service delivery,” Stephanson told councillors in the memo.

“A return to the five-day office standard allows the City to remain aligned with other public sector employees while supporting the overall wellness and success of the organization.”

The city manager says any “alternative work arrangements” for employees will be “made in consultation between managers and their employees based on role, operational needs and available space.”

The City of Ottawa employs approximately 17,000 people, which includes Ottawa Fire Services and Ottawa Paramedic Services, and staff with Solid Waste Services, Road Services and Public Works.

Coun. Jeff Leaper expressed his “profound disappointment” with Ottawa’s new return-to-office mandate on social media.

“It is a short-sighted decision that serves no one well in either the short or long term,” Leiper said on X.

“I’ve been struck when visiting Ottawa’s suburbs at how vibrant local businesses have become serving work-from-home customers. Office workers get to spend more time with their families without long commutes. Taking that away weakens our neighbourhood main streets and undermines communities that have finally started to thrive.”

Leiper noted OC Transpo is currently “unreliable” for many workers.

“Ordering workers to take on significantly more costs in their household budgets with more and longer commutes is a blow to affordability,” Leiper said.

“Doug Ford’s government is making the wrong choice for Ontario workers, but it’s not incumbent on the City of Ottawa to make the same mistake.”

Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster wondered whether city employees were ordered back to work five days a week following Premier Ford’s comments.

“In my experience, staff have always been instantly available and helpful, no matter what location they are working from,” Troster said on social media.

“Offering flexibility means people can do their best.”

Troster’s riding includes Ottawa City Hall, one of the main buildings for municipal employees.

“Hybrid work arrangements are good for parents and caregivers—often women. Trust people to work where they do it best,” Troster said.

Coun. Shawn Menard said on X, “Forcing workers to commute into the office five days a week, rather than offering some modest flexible work arrangements (i.e. giving employees a choice), is a poor decision for quality of life and for productivity.”

Earlier this month, the Ontario government announced all members of the Ontario Public Service will be required to be in the office four days a week starting in November and full-time in January.

Federal employees in the core public service are required to be in the office a minimum of three days a week.

More commuters in Ottawa-Gatineau

The City of Ottawa announced changes to its office requirements hours after Statistics Canada released new data showing more workers are commuting to work in Ottawa-Gatineau instead of working from home.

The proportion of employed people who are travelling to work increased to 76 per cent in Ottawa-Gatineau in May, up nine per cent from May 2024.

Ottawa-Gatineau has the lowest proportion of workers who are commuting to work in Canada.

More workers returning to the office in Ottawa-Gatineau resulted in longer commute times, according to Statistics Canada.

The average commute time in the Ottawa-Gatineau area was 26.4 minutes in May 2025, up from 26.2 minutes in May 2024 and 24.8 minutes in May 2023.

Statistics Canada reports 12.7 per cent of commuters used OC Transpo and STO Gatineau in May 2025, up from 11 per cent in 2024 and 9.1 per cent in 2023. The number of people using active transportation to get to work increased from 7.7 in 2024 to 9.1 per cent in 2025.