Protestors at the All Out For Remote Work Rally on Sept. 18, 2025. Several hundred provincial civil servants took part in the rally in front of Whitney Block, the building across from Queen’s Park in Toronto.Duane Cole/The Globe and Mail
Thousands of public servants have requested exemptions to the Ontario government’s upcoming order to return to the office full-time, as unions say they are set to meet with the province’s top bureaucrat later this month to plead their case for flexible work arrangements.
Dave Bulmer, president of Ontario’s professional employees union AMAPCEO – which has 17,000 members – said there have been about 4,500 requests for remote or hybrid work arrangements in the last three weeks.
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He said that’s on top of about 5,000 people who have already been approved for alternative work arrangements, prior to the government’s earlier directive on returning to the office three days a week. That means more than half of the union’s workers have asked for hybrid work.
“There is a balance that can be struck here,” Mr. Bulmer said.
Several hundred provincial civil servants took part in a noon-hour rally on Thursday in front of Whitney Block, the building across from Queen’s Park that houses offices for both Premier Doug Ford and the Secretary of the Cabinet. The crowd waved flags and chanted, “Remote work works!”
Duane Cole/The Globe and Mail
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which represents 32,000 of the province’s more than 60,000 public servants, and is currently in contract talks, is also battling the move.
Amanda Usher, the Ontario Public Service unified bargaining team chair with OPSEU, said the union has urged members who can work remotely to request alternate work arrangements under the existing process that is already part of OPSEU’s contract.
Mr. Ford’s government announced this summer that public servants who were in-office three days a week will be ordered back to the office four days a week starting Oct. 20. On Jan. 5, 2026, workers will be expected to be in the office five days a week. There are more than 60,000 employees in the Ontario public service, and the government says more than half are already required to attend the workplace full-time.
The move is part of a larger cultural shift toward returning to the office, with cities such as Brampton and Ottawa also calling employees back full-time starting in January. This fall, four of Canada’s Big Five banks will formally institute four days in-person.
As of September last year, federal public service workers were required to be in the office three days a week. The federal public service unions have resisted full-time in-office mandates.
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The shift has wide-ranging consequences for workers who abandoned their commutes during the pandemic. Some moved out of urban areas to more affordable locations – or even out-of-province.
Mr. Ford and others have said that returning to the office is important for workplace culture, such as mentoring, and that it will help revive downtown cores hollowed out during the pandemic shutdowns.
Mr. Bulmer said he believes more people will apply for flexible work closer to the first deadline of Oct. 20. The provision for alternative work arrangements is included in the union’s collective agreement, and the requests are approved by a director on a case-by-case basis, he said.
Mr. Bulmer said he and five other union heads are meeting with Secretary of Cabinet and head of the Ontario Public Service Michelle DiEmanuele on Sept. 29 to discuss the back to office directive. His union has also challenged the move under its collective agreement, saying it was done without the required two-week notice to the union.
“It’s disrespectful, to be blunt,” he said.
A spokesperson for Ontario Treasury Board President Caroline Mulroney said according to the ratification with the union, the employer has discretion over in-office requirements.
Spokesperson Liz Tuomi said the government communicated its return-to-office plan to the union’s leadership “and shared with employees once decisions were made to provide maximum notice and support a smooth transition.”
In response, Mr. Bulmer noted that the union’s collective agreement allows employees to ask for an exemption and only need to prove that they are able to work from home.
Mr. Bulmer and other union leaders argue there is not enough space to call back every worker full-time and that it would be costly to taxpayers to acquire new office buildings. He also said renovations at the Ontario government’s Macdonald Block complex, which houses thousands of public servants, are behind schedule and won’t have enough space.
Ms. Mulroney’s office said there are “many public service workspaces across the province” that are not being used at full capacity.
Federal unions are also watching closely at what happens in Ontario.
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Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, which represents some 27,000 members, said his union hasn’t heard from the federal government on the issue since it mandated workers back three days a week.
He said the return-to-office mandate hurts productivity, and remote work frees up office buildings that could be used for much-needed housing.
“This is boiling into a conflict around the country,” he said.
Sean O’Reilly, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, which represents about 60,000 federal workers, said the three-days-a-week mandate has prompted “unrest” among members, who value flexible work.
Donna Kellway, president of the Ontario Crown Attorneys’ Association which represents about 1,300 lawyers, said her members go into court five days a week when needed, adding that flexible work is particularly helpful for those caring for young children.
“It wasn’t broken. It was working well,” she said.