Pedestrians make their way along Sparks Street mall in Ottawa in November, 2021. Prime Minister Mark Carney says the government is in talks with the unions about a plan to get more public servants back into the office.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government’s plan for federal public servants to work from the office more often is weeks away from coming into “sharper view.”
Mr. Carney told the Ottawa Board of Trade on Monday that his government is talking to public-sector unions about the issue.
The Prime Minister said that the return of workers will depend on such factors as seniority and workplace capacity but did not elaborate.
The issue came up during a conversation onstage with Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe. It has been a point of interest to the municipal government in the nation’s capital, given the economic impact of the absence of the workers in the downtown core.
The government’s current hybrid work policy requires employees to work on-site at lest three days a week. Executives are required to be on-site a minimum of four days a week.
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In recent weeks, public service unions have asked the government to respond to rumours that on-site requirements will be increased.
Unions are also concerned about the government’s plan, first announced in the Nov. 4 budget, to reduce the size of the public service by about 30,000 people over five years.
Mr. Carney said the growth in the size of the public service over the past decade is not sustainable and needs to be addressed. Most of that reduction would be through attrition and retirements, he said.
On return to office, he said the government would be talking to the unions about the mandate.
“We will come to a sharper view on it over the course of the next several weeks. And there will likely be different levels of return, depending on seniority, depending on the role and obviously depending on capacity,” he said.
He also said the government needs to ensure that public servants have the offices and workspaces that will make their jobs as “interesting and impactful as possible.”