Premier Ford urges Ontario municipalities to bring workers back to the office five days a week

Ontario Premier Ford says he looks forward to having public servants back in office full time. Natalie Johnson has the details.

Premier Doug Ford is urging more Ontario municipalities to put an end to remote work and bring staff back to the office five days a week.

Ford made the comments at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference in Ottawa on Monday morning less than one week after the province announced all members of the Ontario Public Service would be returning to the office four days a week starting in November before coming back full time in the New Year.

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

More than 60,000 public servants will be required to return to the office full time, although Ford previously said about half of those employees were already working in the office five days a week.

“This decision reflects what we are seeing in business across the province,” Ford said on Monday.

The premier applauded Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown for his decision on Friday to send all City of Brampton employees back to the office full time in January.

“I want to thank Mayor Brown for his leadership and encourage other municipalities to follow his lead,” Ford told those in attendance at Monday’s conference.

“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.”

Last year, federal employees in the core public service were required to return to the office for a minimum of three days a week.

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.

“I also want to thank our incredible public service for their dedication and their professionalism,” Ford said during his speech on Monday.

“They are at the heart of our plan to protect Ontario.”

With files from CTV Toronto’s Phil Tsekouras