Will B.C. follow Ontario’s lead and force public servants back to the office?

Some 60,000 public servants in Ontario have been ordered back to the office full-time. Will B.C. follow suit?

Public servants in Ontario will soon have to return to the office full-time, following an order from Premier Doug Ford’s government.

“I believe everybody’s more productive at work,” Ford said while confirming the news. “And how do you mentor somebody over the phone?”

However, in B.C., the NDP government permits many of its 45,000-plus civil servants to work from home. Statistics provided by the province confirm that 19 per cent of all public sector employees work entirely from home, while 31 per cent are permitted to work three or more days remotely.

And since 2023, civil servants are allowed to work from home from a different community than their office. All these remote work privileges are hailed by the B.C. General Employees’ Union, which represents some 34,000 of those workers.

“That’s a savings for the government that allows them to reduce their real estate foot print,” said BCGEU president Paul Finch on Thursday. “That means the public saves money, the taxpayers save money.”

The NDP said it’s not following Ford’s lead. In a statement to CTV News, the B.C. Public Service Agency said the government “sees the benefits” of remote work flexibility, including “new employment opportunities for people living in other parts of the province, recruiting and retaining a greater diversity of staff, and employees saving time on travel.”

The BCGEU is negotiating a new contract with the province, after their last one expired March 31. It’s currently holding a strike vote, and conceivably could have a legal strike as soon as the first week of September.

Finch said any change to remote work rules would trigger a major backlash.

“One of the key issues on the table for our members is this issue of remote work,” he added.

But for businesses in Victoria – home to many public servants – the empty offices from remote workers are a major problem.

“You know it’s really impacted, particularly, hospitality and retail,” said Jeff Bray, head of the Downtown Victoria Business Association. “The people that used to have lunch, have coffee, do some shopping downtown … are simply not here anymore.”