A new report from Statistics Canada is suggesting that a lot of jobs in downtown Toronto could be done remotely, as many oppose going back to the office amid mandates.
The report, published on Wednesday, used data on the nature of certain office jobs in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to produce a map that shows the biggest concentrated areas in the region with what it calls “teleworkable jobs.”
The map reveals that most jobs that can theoretically be done from home are heavily concentrated in downtown Toronto, and more specifically near the city’s Financial District, where the study estimates that 3,600 or more jobs per 0.5 square kilometres could be done remotely. Some more notable areas have even registered over 10,581 jobs that could be performed out of the office.
Areas along Yonge St. are also highlighted, with some having around 1,400 to 3,600 possibly remote jobs.
Although the most notable numbers are concentrated in the city’s centre, the study also notes that areas such as near High Park in the west or the Danforth in the east also show around 450 and 1,400 of these jobs per 0.5 square kilometres.
Statistics Canada Spokesperson Derek Messacar, who was also involved in the study, tells Now Toronto that researchers mainly started looking into data about remote work back when the pandemic first hit in 2020, as they tried to understand how the labour market could work under a lockdown.
Now, using a combination of data about the nature of jobs in the GTA, researchers determined which jobs could theoretically be done from home.
“It’s jobs that, if you’re front-facing, working with clients, or if you’re working outdoors, if you’re working with machinery or these kinds of things, then we would label the job as cannot be done from home. And then, jobs that don’t fit these characteristics…we would say these are jobs that can in principle be done from home,” he said.
“This is not taking into consideration the employer’s preferences or the worker’s preferences, or anything like that. It’s just what can be, in principle, done from home.”
The report also highlighted that 18.7 per cent of office spaces in Canada were vacant by the end of 2024, suggesting that these unused spaces could be utilized for other purposes, including possibly being converted into housing.
According to the study, while data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation published in 2023 suggests that the country would need to build 3.5 million houses by 2030 to increase housing affordability, the conversion of these spaces into housing could be a possibility to address this need.
“We just wanted to say, if such a thing were to occur, where would those jobs come from, and what would be the potential implications for different regions within the city, on the office supplies that could potentially be converted,” Messacar said.
EMPLOYEES PUSHING AGAINST GOING BACK TO OFFICE
This study comes as the Ontario government and private companies in Toronto, including the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Scotiabank and TD Bank, have been mandating their employees to go back to the office four times a week this fall.
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The move has been getting a wave of backlash from employees in the region, who are citing things like work-life balance and long commute times as reasons to support working from home.
Last week, hundreds of members from the Association of Management, Administrative and Professional Crown Employees of Ontario (AMAPCEO) took to Queen’s Park to rally against the Ontario government’s return to office mandates, sharing that they’ve collected 13,000 signatures in a petition against them.
A spokesperson for the union told Now Toronto on Thursday that many of its members have been working from home since even before the pandemic, and feel that their job is effectively done remotely.
These employees say that returning to the office would be “a Stone Age step backwards,” adding that besides being effective, remote work has also improved their work-life balance and mental health.
“Time not spent commuting allows members to participate in pick-up and drop-off for children, elders, and other loved ones requiring care. Time not spent commuting also affords them more time to keep up with domestic responsibilities, attend medical appointments, volunteer in their community, etc.,” the spokesperson said.
“They also note that remote work reduces traffic congestion and pollution, and reduces the burden on overcrowded and underfunded public transit systems.”
Despite Ontario Premier Doug Ford saying that working in the office allows employees to be more productive and even support downtown businesses that have been struggling since the pandemic, many workers disagree, saying that the lack of noise and distractions at home allows them to produce more.
“In terms of the economy, some members have also said that remote work actually helps support local businesses, because it gives them the opportunity to get coffee or lunch within their communities,” the spokesperson said.
“Remote work dramatically reduces the costs of real estate, furnishings, utilities, and technology for the government. It saves taxpayers’ money, which can instead be invested to provide Ontarians quality public services.”
Now Toronto reached out to the Ontario government for comment but did not receive a response on time for publication.
