Public servants in Brampton must return to the office full time in January, mayor says

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown explains why his city is following the province's direction by ordering civil servants back in the office full time in January.

After the Ontario government required provincial workers to go back to the office full-time next year, the mayor of Brampton has voiced his plan to follow suit, while his counterpart in Mississauga says the city will keep its hybrid policy at this time.

Speaking to Newstalk 1010 on Friday, Mayor Patrick Brown said the city’s public servants who are not currently working in the office five days a week will be required to do so starting in January.

“This is a legacy of an accommodation which was brought in during COVID and as much as there are some benefits, you don’t get the same level of productivity,” he said.

“The challenge was no one wanted to be the first mover on bringing this policy back out of fear that you may lose staff.”

The decision comes one day after the provincial government announced that all members of the Ontario Public Service will be back in office full-time come January.

Workers had previously been mandated to work from the office for a minimum of three days per week.

Brown called the decision “long overdue.”

“The fact that the province is doing this is great. It will set the tone. I think it is going to have a cascading with other public servants,” he said.

Several large employers have also announced plans to ramp up in-office attendance in recent months.

Rogers said in July that its corporate employees would have to begin working four days a week from the office in October and five days a week by February. A number of banks have also announced that they will require employees in office four days a week in the fall.

Will Toronto and Mississauga follow?

In Mississauga, Mayor Carolyn Parrish said in a social media post that the current hybrid work will continue for municipal workers.

She noted that 80 per cent of staff already work five days a week in the office by choice.

“We constantly monitor to ensure excellent service for residents and positive engagement with our employees,” Parrish said.

At an unrelated press conference Friday afternoon, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow was asked whether Toronto might follow suit for its civil servants, but did not directly respond to the question.

She said that while some senior administrators and lawyers might be working remotely, the majority of staff are already back at work full-time.

Toronto’s current policy requires that hybrid employees work from the office two or three days a week, depending on their role. That policy has been in effect since November 2023.

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