News Release
May 29, 2020
City working with large downtown employers to extend working from home efforts, invites public input on Recovery and Rebuild efforts
Mayor John Tory announced today that the City of Toronto and a number of the city’s other major downtown employers, as well as Toronto's post-secondary institutions, will continue to support employees, where possible, to work from home until September at the earliest.
This effort is part of the work the City is doing to keep pressure off the TTC and Metrolinx as we move into the restart and recovery period, along with the ActiveTO plan to build up Toronto's bike network and the strong recommendation for all people who travel on transit to wear a mask.
Telecommuting, and a commitment to phasing-in the return of employees to work and staggering start times where possible, will help businesses maintain physical distancing and reduce pressure on public transit as more businesses resume operations. The City of Toronto, as a major downtown employer, will also continue to prioritize working remotely and will encourage all staff who are able to continue to work from home as the city continues to deal with COVID-19.
The new Toronto Office of Recovery and Rebuild (TORR) has been reaching out to finance and insurance companies, universities and colleges, and other large employers to request that they return employees to the workplace in a safe and gradual way while adhering to public health guidelines. Finance and insurance employees account for approximately 12 per cent of all public transit commuters in Toronto – more than 57,000 use transit as their main mode of commuting. Over half of students at Toronto's universities and colleges also commute by transit including to downtown campuses.
The City has received commitments from several major employers to support a gradual and proactive approach to reopening and to help the City work safely towards recovery and rebuilding:
• Bank of Montreal
• Canada Life
• Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
• Centennial College
• Deloitte Canada
• EY Canada
• George Brown College
• Humber College
• KPMG Canada
• Manulife
• National Bank
• OCAD University
• PwC Canada
• Rogers Communications
• Royal Bank of Canada
• Ryerson University
• Scotiabank
• Seneca College
• Sun Life Financial
• TD Bank
• University of Toronto
• Yamana Gold Inc.
• York University
• Zurich Canada
The City is encouraging all large employers to adopt similar measures and to work with their facilities management to assess floor layouts and access to workplaces (such as use of elevators), determine how to safely meet with customers, adjust work shifts and business hours and review practices and procedures being implemented by other employers.
The City also announced today the launch of an outreach and consultation initiative to engage residents, communities and businesses, and to seek their perspectives on how the City can recover, rebuild and emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic even stronger.
Toronto’s recovery and rebuilding in the months to come will be guided by public health considerations and provincial decisions, but will also rely on residents, businesses and others sharing their unique insights on successfully restoring and rebuilding the City’s communities and social and economic infrastructure.
There are several ways to get involved:
• download a discussion guide
• provide feedback online or to TORR by June 30, or
• host a meeting or discussion – sample agendas and resources available online.