Statistics Canada staggering rollout of four-day onsite mandate due to lack of office space

Signage marks the Statistics Canada offices in Ottawa on July 21, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Statistics Canada employees in Ottawa will not be transitioning to a four-day in-office system beginning on July 6, as the department says it will stagger its rollout of the mandate due to office space constraints.

In a statement sent to employees on Friday, Statistics Canada said the transition to the new onsite requirements will begin on July 6, but not all offices will transition at once due to a lack of workspaces.

“Due to space constraints, our move to four days per week or 80 per cent for all employees will be staggered, beginning with offices ready to welcome this increased presence,” Statistics Canada wrote.

According to the statement, employees in the National Capital Region, Montréal, Sherbrooke, Toronto and Vancouver will be exempt from the initial four day in-office mandate. Instead, employees in those offices will be required onsite three days per week.

Workers in Edmonton, Halifax, Sturgeon Falls and Winnipeg will make up the first wave of employees returning to office four days per week.

In addition to the staggered return-to-office mandate, Statistics Canada says it will also be moving towards assigned seating where possible and all workers will be required to be onsite on either Monday or Friday beginning on July 6.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat announced the new return-to-office directives in February. These directives required public service executives to be in-office five days per week and, as of July 6, all other public employees must be onsite a minimum of four days per week.

Global Affairs Canada and Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada both said they will delay the four-day in-office requirements due to a lack of office space.

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