Following a return to office (RTO) trend, Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government is the latest to announce that provincial employees will be back at their desks full-time by next year, but the decision is causing a wave of criticism online.
At a press conference on Thursday about the provincial government’s response to the U.S. tariffs, Treasury Board President Caroline Mulroney announced the new mandate, saying that public servants will now be required to work four times a week in office by Oct. 20 and five times a week by January.
Provincial employees were previously required to work in office at least three times a week, according to a previous mandate dating back to April 2022.
Speaking to reporters about the decision, Ford cited more productivity, better training processes, and even the economy as reasons to return to in-person activities.
“I believe everyone’s more productive when they are at work. And how do you mentor someone over a phone? You can’t. You’ve gotta look at them eye to eye, train them, comradery,” he said.
“Plus, the economy too. I will just use downtown Toronto for example, the PATH. You know, there’s hardworking entrepreneurs that their businesses basically just died when there wasn’t floor traffic.”
@nowtoronto Following a #RTO trend, #Ontario Premier #DougFord ♬ original sound – Now Toronto
The decision comes as several other Canadian corporations, including the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Bank of Nova Scotia and TD bank, have issued similar mandates requiring their employees to RTO at least four times a week by this fall.
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The growing trend was also commended by Ford, who says he has been speaking to other businesses in the province about sending their employees back to the office.
“All the companies I’ve talked to, from the banks to the insurance companies to everyone else, everyone needs to go back to work,” he said.
BRAMPTON WORKERS TO RTO
Following Ford’s announcement, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said that he will also be jumping into the RTO trend.
On Friday, the mayor said that all Brampton public employees are going to be required to return to full-time in-person work starting next year, according to Newstalk 1010.
“I think it was long overdue. This is a legacy of an accommodation which was brought in during COVID, and as much as there are some benefits, you don’t get the same level of productivity,” he said.
According to Brown, the fear of losing staff is what’s keeping corporations from mandating their employees to go back to in-person work, but the province’s announcement could be the first push to lead more employers into doing the same.
“There’s a lot of municipal and public servants who’ve already been back to work in person full time, you know, firefighters, police officers, transit workers. But for the remaining staff that are not, I’m sure there will be a bit of an adjustment, but I think it’s the right thing to do,” he added.
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Despite Ford and Brown’s comments about the advantages of working in person, after the province’s announcement many people took to social media to raise concerns about the move.
“This RTO mandate that is emerging is insane. None of it is grounded in any actual data—it’s just a bunch of boomers in senior management positions wanting the ‘good ol’ days’ and think bu** in a seat is a better way to get the most out of people rather than actually being a good manager,” one Reddit user said.
“I work for a city and was just told the same. We no longer have office space so they are jamming people together into tiny cubicles. And worse, we no longer have parking for all staff since the transition to WFH during COVID. Meeting rooms are scarce and usually booked, so we still do Teams calls, except now I can hear 2-5 other people around me on the same call…It is a terrible format to work,” another user pointed out,
“Governments love to complain about traffic and [the] environment, deficits, the lack of affordable housing, and the low birth rate, when they have the power to cut traffic and pollution significantly, save boatloads of money by selling the buildings, turning buildings into affordable housing, and encourage people to have more time and money for their families, which leads to more people having children. But all that pales in comparison to having slightly more control over your workers,” a different user said.
“Yes, working remote is why people aren’t spending as much. Has nothing to do with the crazy inflation of the last few years, rising housing costs, and stagnant wages. It’s definitely just that they work remotely,” another user sarcastically said.
