More space needed to accommodate four-day return-to-office, government analysis finds

The government may be forced to acquire more space to fit public servants back in the office four days per week, an internal analysis finds. Photo by JEAN LEVAC /POSTMEDIA

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Some public service workplaces will need to find more more space to accommodate employees on site four days per week, according to the department in charge of managing government properties.

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“Our analysis shows that the increase to a four-day onsite presence for all employees will mean that certain departments will require more workstations and/or more space in certain locations,” spokesperson for Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) Michèle LaRose said in an email on Friday, April 17.

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“PSPC is working with partner departments and agencies to deliver solutions by optimizing underutilized space, renewing existing leases, and potentially acquiring additional space where requirements cannot be met within the existing portfolio.”

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PSPC declined to provide the analysis.

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LaRose said the department didn’t expect to encounter any challenges fitting executives into existing space when that cohort returned to the office five days per week on May 4. But most public servants are mandated to be in-office four days each week in July, which is an increase of one day per week over the current requirement.

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In 2024, the government committed PSPC to reducing its office portfolio by half over a decade. But a report from Canada’s auditor general released the following year found the government was only on pace to cut its real estate profile by 33 per cent as departments and agencies had been hesitant to sign off on real estate reductions.

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This March, following the return-to-office announcement, PSPC said its plans to offload office space were being “adjusted.”

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Now, the government’s internal analysis shows those plans may be reversed entirely, with more space being added in cases where workstations are scarce.

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Public service unions have vehemently criticized the government’s push to scale back remote work.

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Immediately following the four-day return-to-office announcement, Sean O’Reilly, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service, said he was skeptical federal office buildings would be ready to welcome workers back by the time the new policy kicked in.

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“I have zero confidence that they’re going to be ready for July 6,” O’Reilly said at the time.

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