Public servants are back in office four days a week — but not in these big departments

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Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada have enough space in the National Capital Region, but spokesperson Mark Johnson said “localized space challenges” mean the return-to-office will be delayed in “a small number of regional offices.”

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Similarly, Justice Canada has all the space it needs in Ottawa-Gatineau but not in every regional office, according to spokesperson Kwame Bonsu.

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Environment and Climate Change Canada has “a few locations” where a “phased approach” to the return-to-office will be needed, spokesperson Brandon Clim said.

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Statistics Canada is delaying RTO-4 for many workers, as only its offices in Edmonton, Halifax, Sturgeon Falls and Winnipeg are ready to welcome employees back four-days a week. All other Statistics Canada offices, including those in Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal, Sherbrooke, Toronto and Vancouver, will remain at three days.

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A lack of space poses a deeper challenge in other departments.

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In April, Global Affairs Canada told most of its workers they would remain at three in-office days per week as of July 6, due to an ongoing renovation project affecting the Lester B. Pearson Building and other offices in the National Capital Region.

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In January, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada released 12 floors of real estate across two downtown office buildings, only to tell workers in May the department wouldn’t be able to fit them in the office four days per week by July.

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Workers there will remain at three-days per week until the department can “acquire the space needed,” according to a May 7 memo to staff.

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About 1,600 workers at the federal pay centre under Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) haven’t yet been able to meet the three-day in-office requirement that kicked in nearly two years ago, due to a lack of workstations in offices in New Brunswick and Quebec.

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And at Employment and Social Development Canada, the largest federal department, full compliance with RTO-4 will likewise be “staggered due to space constraints,” spokesperson Samuelle Carbonneau told the Ottawa Citizen in May.

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Where did all the space go?

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In 2019, before workers were sent home during the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Capital Region had a public service population of about 120,000.

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At its peak in 2023-2024, that number had reached more than 155,000. If the government sheds about 10 per cent of its workforce through job cuts, as it plans to do under the “comprehensive expenditure review” outlined in Budget 2025, Ottawa-Gatineau will still be home to thousands more public servants than was the case before the pandemic.

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In the meantime, the feds have trimmed office space. Compared to where things stood in 2024, Public Services and Procurement Canada projected a reduction in its national office portfolio of more than seven per cent by 2026-2027.

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PSPC, the government department that manages federal property, has been aiming to sell or transfer several surplus buildings in the National Capital Region as part of its effort to trim the federal office portfolio.

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In 2024, PSPC committed to reducing the federal office portfolio by half over the course of a decade, and Budget 2024 set aside $1.1 billion for the purpose.

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PSPC is not on track to meet that goal, and the department said in March it was “adjusting” those plans due to the looming RTO-4 mandate.

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