[hoggytime]

Let's start a dedicated thread for Federal/Provincial/Municipal RTO Mandates. I'll start with today's OBJ article.

Business leaders support feds’ RTO update, but question if transit will be adequate​

Marissa Gal

The head of the Ottawa Board of Trade is welcoming the federal government’s move to bring employees back to the office four days a week starting in July. However, business leaders are cautioning that appropriate infrastructure, including transit, will be needed.

Yesterday, the secretary of the Treasury Board said in an online message that the government “intends to increase the on-site presence of executives and employees who are eligible for hybrid work,” with executives expected to return to the office full-time starting May 4, and all other employees expected to be in the office four days a week starting July 6.

The letter stated that Public Service and Procurement Canada will work closely with employees to ensure there is adequate office space.

Sueling Ching, president and CEO of the Ottawa Board of Trade, said in a statement Thursday that the move will positively affect downtown revitalization.

“This announcement responds directly to our calls for a transparent and predictable federal workforce strategy, one that allows businesses, investors, and economic partners to plan with confidence … In the nation’s capital, clarity around federal presence, people and places, is a critical economic signal that supports decision-making, investment, and growth,” the statement read.

Ching further called for clear timelines, consistent enforcement and coordination across governments, saying that workforce announcements have “real ripple effects” for downtown businesses, commercial real estate, transit and small and mid-sized firms that depend on daily foot traffic.

“Employers, employees, and local businesses need to prepare, from transit and childcare to building readiness and surrounding services,” she said in her statement.

The government’s decision enforces why Ottawa needs to diversify its economy, she said. “A more resilient and vibrant downtown core with a stronger mix of public and private employers, entrepreneurs, residents, and cultural activity, strengthens not only the city, but the entire regional economy of the nation’s capital.”

Shawn Hamilton, principal at Proveras Commercial Realty, told OBJ on Friday that he’s cautiously optimistic.

“I think our city was designed contemplating a certain daily migration of a workforce into the downtown core. Our transit system was built to support that. From an operational and economic viewpoint, it’s great news that we are reverting back to what I could call the ‘norms.’ But with that, you have to be cautious and not blind to things. We need to make sure that we’ve got infrastructure in place to support people,” he said.

Transit is one of many things that needs to be able to accommodate the volume of people coming into the downtown this summer, he added.

“We need to make sure that our transit is up to the task. If our LRT is a weak link as we continue to work out its kinks, do we have supplemental bus service in place to work in parallel so that there are no hiccups?” Hamilton said.

He added that PSPC needs to ensure that it has a comprehensive accommodation strategy in place for federal offices.

“It’s not just about ordering people back to work for the sake of being back to work, but are we accommodating people with a good standard? Are we housing them with their team members? Are we promoting communication and collaboration amongst the team? We need to make sure that all these pieces are together,” he said.
Downtown businesses will adapt to serve the increase in foot traffic, he said. “The good news about the private sector is that it’s programmed to react. As there will be people coming downtown, there will be business downtown to service the influx of people.”

Plus, it’s not as though Ottawa’s downtown is starting from square one, he added.

“We’ve seen sort of an erosion of downtown vibrancy over the course of the last five years that has gradually been restoring as more people come back. I think that will continue to create vibrancy, but I think it’s also important to note that we’re not going from zero to 100 here. We’re probably at about 70 to 75 per cent so we’re looking at increasing from 75 to 100 so it’s not going to be a wall of people coming out of nowhere. It’s going to be a gradual increase.”

Kevin McHale, executive director of the Downtown BIA, said that while he welcomes the feds’ RTO announcement, a more diverse economic base is needed for Ottawa’s downtown to thrive.

“While the return to office will contribute to downtown recovery, it is only one part of the solution. A truly resilient downtown requires more residents, more visitors, and activity seven days a week, from morning through evening. Downtown vitality depends on a mix of workers, residents, and tourists to sustain businesses beyond traditional office hours,” McHale said in a statement to OBJ Friday.

For the RTO strategy to succeed, downtown Ottawa should have “a fully functioning public transit system, affordable and accessible parking, and reliable, consistent commutes from other areas of the city,” the statement read.

 

[jay2028]

We would all be better off if the gov and private sector were wf when possible

 

[hoggytime]

From CBC this morning:

No desks, no strategy: Experts say government's latest return-to-office order ignores reality​

Federal public servants mandated back to the office 4 days a week starting in July​

Priscilla Ki Sun Hwang · CBC News · Posted: Feb 08, 2026 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Federal public servants have been ordered back to their offices four days a week starting in July, but their unions and some experts are questioning the feasibility of that new mandate. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

With federal public servants mandated to return to the office four days a week this summer, experts and unions are sounding the alarm over a lack of clear strategy or infrastructure to support such a move.

Federal employees are currently mandated to come into the office three days a week, or four days a week for executives.

On Thursday, the Treasury Board of Canada suddenly announced that executives must return five days a week starting May 4, and everyone else must return four days a week starting July 6.

But Shawn S. Hamilton, principal at Proveras Commercial Realty, said the government needs a "demonstrable strategy" to prove that it can accommodate all those workers.

"You can't just bring people back for the sake of bringing them back. You've got to bring them back and locate them with their teams and ... create opportunities for collaboration," he said.

Our offices are overcrowded. We're spending time having to search for desks in the morning.- Vivian Funk, Association of Justice Counsel

Hamilton, who has worked with tenants and lessees in both the public and private sectors, said he hasn't heard of any such plans to grow office space in the National Capital Region. He said even with the government's planned workforce reductions, he's skeptical of the logistics.

"We haven't been hearing anything on the street," he said. "We're questioning the math of where people will go."

Pedestrians pass the Langevin Block near Parliament Hill in downtown Ottawa. Federal workers are expected back in the office four days a week starting in July, the Treasury Board announced this week. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

In light of the federal government's ongoing plans to dispose of some of its properties, Hamilton said the latest mandate sends a confusing message.

"I've mapped this over the course of my 30-plus-year career, and I can't remember a time that the federal government has ever projected an image of stability or optimism for Ottawa," he said.

"[We need] some better messaging that allows us — the rest of the city — to sort of operate without a fear of abandonment or a fear of catastrophic downsizing."

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) declined to comment, pointing instead to a recent public statement.

"In locations where sufficient space is not available, we will work to identify potential solutions as quickly as possible," the department said.

Asked if the July timeline seems feasible for the government to find sufficient office space, Hamilton said the commercial real estate sector is able to "react very quickly" to demand.

"[But] July is essentially today in terms of our business, so it is tight," he said.

An 'opportunistic move'​

Tyler Chamberlin, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management, said the government's latest mandate seems like "an opportunistic move" amid significant job cuts.

"The feeling is like, 'If we are going to do this ... we should do it now when everybody is kind of believing that we're in a crisis,'" said Chamberlin, whose background is in economics of innovation and power divisions in the workplace.

Chamberlin said the government could struggle to stick to its own timeline, especially given the lack of office space and Ottawa's ongoing public transit woes.

"This may end up being a bit of a fudge on the part of the government," he said.

Crowded morning commute for Line 1 riders

Pierre Barrieau, an expert in transportation planning with Gris Orange Consultant Inc., also noted the significant concerns around parking and public transit, especially on the Gatineau side where the Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO) has "suffered decades of underfunding."

"As people will go back to work, it's going to put incredible pressure on the network," Barrieau said. "They need help, and they need it now."

In an email, the STO said all its resources are already deployed.

"It remains to be seen how this return [to the office] will translate to the road network," the public transit agency wrote in French.

In Ottawa, an OC Transpo spokesperson said Friday that the transit service has "assured" the federal government that it's working toward supporting the July mandate.

Unions have long list of concerns​

Unions representing federal employees have expressed a long list of concerns.

"Our offices are overcrowded. We're spending time having to search for desks in the morning," said Vivian Funk, vice-president of health and safety with the Association of Justice Counsel.

She added that many workers are commuting to the office "just to sit on [video calls]," and noted some federal office buildings have mould and other airborne contaminants.

"Some of our members are coming in to find mouse droppings on their desks in the morning," Funk said. "In the North, we have members and buildings where the heat doesn't work ... so they're wearing parkas at their desks, and gloves."

Funk said she also worries about burnout among employees who are forced to return to overcrowded workspaces.

"The plain reality is, without additional space ... it's going to be an ongoing challenge," she said. "It's not good for productivity. It's not good for morale."

Alex Silas is the national executive vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. (Olivier Plante/Radio-Canada)

Alex Silas, national executive vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, warned that the return-to-office mandate will come with a "huge cost."

"At a time where ... the Carney government is pinching every penny and trying to find savings, this move makes absolutely no sense," he said.

Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, agreed.

"So we ask, who are you serving with this decision? It's time for that answer to really be given to Canadians and to all federal public servants out there," Prier said.

Chamberlin suspects the four-day mandate might be as far as the government is able to push, given current constraints.

"So it would be very surprising to take that sort of last step [to five days a week]," he said. "I think that that this is probably as far as they go."

The Treasury Board said Thursday that the new mandate will "strengthen" the public service, and pledged to work with unions to "best implement this approach."

 

[J.OT13]

That's what is the most frustrating. The Feds spent the last four years adapting to a hybrid strategy, shedding office space, removing assigned desks to invest millions in offices built for a shared desk reality where no one has their own space.

 

[jay2028]

That's what is the most frustrating. The Feds spent the last four years adapting to a hybrid strategy, shedding office space, removing assigned desks to invest millions in offices built for a shared desk reality where no one has their own space.

I don't get the Mayor he should be pushing more for work from home not less.

 

[J.OT13]

I don't get the Mayor he should be pushing more for work from home not less.

I understand his point of view. It's good for the budget if more people take transit, park downtown, commercial taxes....

I'd like to see, if this is happening anyway, is a return to the assigned desks, and more flexibility to wfh and extra day or two some weeks when you have appointments, family obligations or if employers could proactively call wfh days if a storm is coming.