The Ford government has launched a review of its office space to work out if it needs to lease more buildings to accommodate a full-time return to work for tens of thousands of civil servants.
In August, the province announced it would gradually begin bringing all public servants to the office beginning in October, with everyone expected to be back five days per week by Jan. 5, 2026.
The move was met with fury by many civil servants and AMAPCEO, the union representing the public service workers in Ontario.
Dave Bulmer, president of the union, said he was “incensed” by the decision, and accused the government’s top civil servant, Michelle Di Emanuele, of trying to make changes which hadn’t been agreed to during contract negotiations.
Since then, the union said 10,000 people had signed a petition calling for remote work to continue — a figure which equates to more than half of AMAPCEO’s 16,500 membership.
AMAPCEO also said more than 2,200 civil servants had made requests for alternative work arrangements, which would allow them to work in the office less often. Some such agreements were in place even before the pandemic, when work from home became more common.
With a flood of staff now expected to return to the office by January, the government said it was undertaking a review to work out if it needed more space to accommodate them.
“We are currently reviewing all government office space to identify if there are any space limitations to support the Ontario Public Service’s return to five days in the office, effective Jan. 5, 2026,” a spokesperson for the President of the Treasury Board told Global News.
They did not say when the review would be complete, nor did they address a request for the total number of workspaces available compared to the number of workers.
Brett Geneau, with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said the review would find the government needed more space.
“The real estate is not there, they have closed offices, they’ve sold off some of the real estate that they owned, they’ve stopped some of their leasing contracts,” he said.
“We can barely support the three days a week with our staff now.”
Premier Doug Ford, however, sounded uncompromising when he announced the change last month.
“I believe everyone’s more productive when they’re at work,” he said. “How do you mentor someone over the phone? You can’t. You got to look at them eye to eye or at the watercooler.”