Ontario’s premier calls on federal government to bring workers back to office 5 days a week

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the federal government should follow the city’s lead and bring workers back to the office full-time. CTV’s Dylan Dyson reports.

Premier Doug Ford is urging the federal government to follow the City of Ottawa’s lead and bring federal public servants back to the office five days a week.

Ottawa’s city manager announced Tuesday the city will return to “five days in the office as the new standard for all city employees” starting on Jan. 1, saying it will “help strengthen the organizational culture.”

The return-to-office mandate comes just over a week after Premier Ford called on municipalities to bring employees back to the office five days a week. 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.

• City of Ottawa employees returning to office 5 days a week ‘about creating a great culture’: Mayor

Ford said he is “proud” of Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe for bringing employees back to the office five days a week, and renewed his call for the federal government to have employees back in the workplace full-time.

“Now, the federal government – you need to follow suit and all other regions across Ontario,” Ford told reporters in Inglewood, Ont.

“It’s time to bring people back to work so that they can be mentored, they can collaborate. It’s a lot easier looking at somebody in the eye instead of sitting over a telephone or a computer screen.”

Last fall, the federal government announced changes to the hybrid work model, requiring federal employees in the core public service to be in the office a minimum of three days a week.

A spokesperson for Treasury Board President Shafqat Ali told CTV News Ottawa the current hybrid work model for federal employees “strikes the right balance.”

“The direction on prescribed presence in the workplace is driven by a commitment to serve Canadians most effectively. This direction, which sets a minimum attendance requirement for the federal public service (3 days for eligible employees, and 4 days for executives), has not changed,” the spokesperson said in an email.

“We thank public servants for their continued dedication to building a strong Canada. This is about improving collaboration, service delivery, and outcomes for Canadians. While we will remain flexible, we believe this strikes the right balance for employees and for Canadians.”

A spokesperson for the Treasury Board Secretariat adds deputy heads are responsible for monitoring compliance of the return-to-office directive within their respective department or organization.

“They are also expected to establish mechanisms to monitor data trends and ensure coherence in the application of exceptions,” a statement says.

Sutcliffe told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll that the new five days a week office mandate is about “getting the team back together.”

“I think it’s about creating the right workplace culture and collaboration and mentorship and coaching and creativity and innovation,” Sutcliffe said Wednesday morning.

Approximately 85 per cent of city employees already report onsite or to an office each day, which covers OC Transpo, firefighters, paramedics, Road Services, library staff, recreation and other departments.

Several banks, including TD, RBC, and Scotiabank, mandated a four-day in-office work week starting in September and last month, Rogers Communications Inc. announced it would be requiring workers to be in the office four days a week as of October and five days a week starting in February.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Phil Tsekouras and Codi Wilson