The Ontario government says the province’s public service workers will be returning to the office full-time in the new year.
Effective Jan. 5, 2026, the Ontario Public Service and its provincial agencies, boards and commission public bodies will be returning to the office.
“The return to a five days per week in-workplace standard represents the current workforce landscape in the province and it reinforces our commitment to reflecting the people and businesses we serve across Ontario,” Caroline Mulroney, President of the Treasury Board, said in a statement.
The government says over half of the Ontario Public Service employees are already required to come into the office full-time.
Starting Oct. 20, workers who have been coming into the office three days a week will have to increase their attendance to four days a week.
“This transition is an important step that supports the government’s ongoing efforts to build a more competitive, resilient and self-reliant Ontario,” the statement reads.
Premier Doug Ford said he believes employees are more productive when they work in-person.
“How do you mentor someone over a phone? You can’t. You’ve got to look at them eye to eye,” Ford said at an unrelated press conference Thursday morning.
Ford added that many businesses in downtown Toronto suffered after losing foot traffic due to remote work policies.
OPSEU, which represents about 40,000 public servants, said in a press release Thursday that the decision to return all its workers to the office full time was made “without consideration for the realities frontline public service workers face.”
The union called on the government to immediately halt its return-to-office plan and consult with workers, saying “hybrid work has provided measurable benefits in productivity, retention and well-being.”
OPSEU alleged in the release that an employee relations committee representing workers was given less than an hour’s notice before the announcement, which came during collective bargaining.
“Unilateral decisions like this are a slap in the face to the very workers who kept the OPS running effectively throughout and after the pandemic,” OPSEU president JP Hornick said in a statement.
The president of AMAPCEO, a union representing management and administrative workers, including 14,000 public service employees, said he was “incensed” by the decision.
“The Ontario Public Service employer was hellbent on removing your right to remote work in the last two rounds of bargaining,” Dave Bulmer said in a press release Thursday afternoon.
“We have shown that we can, and should, be treated as the capable, trustworthy professionals we are — professionals capable of working for Ontario from anywhere.”
Thursday’s announcement comes after some private sector companies, including several Canadian banks, announced that employees would be required to spend more time at the office.
Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report