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<\/p>\n\u201cIn a small number of regional offices, implementation will be staggered beginning July 6, 2026, due to local space limitations,\u201d said Johnson.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
Natalie Huneault, a spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada, said the department is implementing the new rules but some locations still need more space to accommodate employees.<\/p>\n
Jason Kung, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, said the department is undertaking a multi-year renovation project that\u2019s affecting the availability of office spaces. The project includes renovations of its headquarters and other buildings in the Ottawa area.<\/p>\n
Until there is enough workspace available, Kung said, all managers and deputy directors will be required to work on-site four days per week, which will be phased in between July 6 and September 15. He said all other employees in the National Capital Region, as well as some employees in regional offices, will continue to be required to work on-site three days per week.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs renovation projects advance and additional renovated space becomes available, on-site presence will increase in line with (Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat) direction, ensuring employees have the space needed to carry out their work effectively,\u201d said Kung.<\/p>\n
Most public servants were told to work remotely when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020. Core federal employees have been working three days in-office since September 2024, after the standard increased from two days.<\/p>\n
Federal unions have fought the government\u2019s back-to-office directives and some have filed unfair labour practice complaints.<\/p>\n
Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, is set to deliver remarks at a demonstration in front of the Prime Minister\u2019s Office on Monday morning to denounce the new rules. <\/p>\n
The union argues the return-to-office order is a \u201chandout\u201d to four banks \u2014 CIBC, National Bank, BMO and RBC \u2014 to protect their roughly $10 billion worth of commercial real estate office exposure.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarney needs to explain, clearly and with evidence, why his government is forcing workers back into offices when the public rationale and $40 billion of costs, plus likely hundreds of millions in commercial real estate costs and maintenance, do not add up at a time of deep cuts to programs and services,\u201d the union said in a news release Thursday. <\/p>\n
Sean O\u2019Reilly, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, said in a post on the union\u2019s website last week that members are frustrated, disappointed and angry about the new rules.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the beginning, we opposed a one-size-fits-all return-to-office mandate and advocated for a presence-with-purpose approach based on operational need,\u201d said O\u2019Reilly, who added that the union has filed policy grievances, launched an unfair labour practice complaint and escalated matters to the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board.<\/p>\n
\u201cPIPSC will continue challenging this policy through legal, bargaining, public and political channels.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some members of Parliament have also pushed back against the updated policy.<\/p>\n
MP Bruce Fanjoy represents the Ontario riding of Carleton, which is home to more than 10,000 public servants. Since the new policy was announced earlier this year, Fanjoy has pushed for a \u201cflexible\u201d hybrid model with a mix of in-office and remote work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that we can do better than a one-size-fits-all return to office policy,\u201d he told The Canadian Press on Friday. \u201cYou want to make sure that government services are provided effectively and efficiently, and there\u2019s no reason to make life more difficult for people who are providing those services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fanjoy acknowledged several departments are short of office space and said that shows that the policy is \u201cpractically difficult to accommodate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The MP said he hasn\u2019t seen evidence the policy will boost productivity and argues hybrid work can cut costs for the government and reduce traffic and pollution.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think that the benefits of flexibility far outweigh any other alternative,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not afraid to let people know where I stand on this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2026. <\/p>\n
Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIn a small number of regional offices, implementation will be staggered beginning July 6, 2026, due to local…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":783551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[879,49,48,2467,2461,2468,2460,2462,2463,44,2464,20739,2465,2466,82],"class_list":["post-783550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-breaking-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-central-vancouver-island","tag-nanaimo","tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","tag-nanaimo-news","tag-nanaimo-news-now","tag-nanaimonewsnow","tag-news","tag-oceanside","tag-ottawa","tag-parksville","tag-qualicum","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}