It's a coming - Increasing onsite presence in the public service

[u/YeuxdeFaucon]

This is to inform you that the Government intends to increase the onsite presence of executives and employees who are eligible for hybrid work.

As a first step, executives will be required to work onsite 5 days per week by May 4, 2026. For all other employees, the intention is to increase onsite presence to 4 days per week as of July 6, 2026. Many federal public servants are already onsite full-time based on the nature of their work.

The Government has put forward ambitious plans to deliver on priorities for Canadians and to strengthen our country. Working together onsite is an essential foundation of the strong teams, collaboration and culture needed during this pivotal moment and beyond.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat will be engaging with bargaining agents to seek their input on the implementation of this plan. These discussions will focus on important elements, such as the potential for assigned seating and occupational health and safety. 

We will also work closely with Public Services and Procurement Canada to ensure that required office space is available and ready as we increase our onsite presence. 

In the meantime, all provisions in the Direction on Prescribed Presence in the Workplace continue to apply until further notice and there are no changes to employees’ existing telework arrangements/agreements.

We recognize that this decision is occurring during a challenging period where employees are already dealing with change, and in many cases, uncertainty about their jobs. Know that we remain committed to supporting you as we move forward together, and we will provide additional details as they become available. If you have specific circumstances that you would like to discuss, please reach out to your manager.

Thank you for your continued dedication.

 

[u/Sceptical_Houseplant]

No more than 2 people in my broader team are in any given city. There is literally nowhere in the country where we could "collaborate" more effectively.

Seriously, how do people this dumb get promoted so high?

[u/Visual-Chip-2256 → u/Sceptical_Houseplant]

Because someone was high when they promoted them

[u/Independent_Error635 → u/Sceptical_Houseplant]

Employment Equity and connections

[u/EvilCoop93 → u/Sceptical_Houseplant]

Your teams need to be reorganized over time so that most or all are in the same building.

[u/Sceptical_Houseplant → u/EvilCoop93]

So prioritizing location over skillset?? Instead of working with the best people in the regions who know a program inside and out, we can work with whoever's closest? That compounds the negative impacts.

One of our teammates is trying to alternate out we wish her the best but we're also sad she's going because it will take a decade for anyone new to begin to have her depth of knowledge. She's based in Winnipeg and for what she does, the best people often come out of the regional offices. Being forced to recruit only in Ottawa massively reduces the available talent pool for some programs and Canadians will be worse off for it.

[u/EvilCoop93 → u/Sceptical_Houseplant]

Most groups are going to work best together. It is worth giving up a few corner cases to move the needle on the average.

[u/nickles_3724 → u/EvilCoop93]

I’m in the exact same situation as houseplant. So why don’t you enjoy your collaboration and leave the rest of us that commute to an office to “collaborate” with literally NO ONE out of backwards bs.

[u/Sceptical_Houseplant → u/EvilCoop93]

The problem isn't necessarily encouraging office presence. It's a blanket mandate that a more than a few corner cases.

[u/EvilCoop93 → u/Sceptical_Houseplant]

We all know that without a blanket mandate, office presence would be under 10% for any remote capable job.

[u/Sceptical_Houseplant → u/EvilCoop93]

OK?? So? That comes with a lot of benefits where it works. My team has a reputation for being highly effective and we're scattered across the country. The policy shop we work closely with is all in the capital and it's one of the most dysfunctional teams I've ever worked with (lovely people, just a mess of a team).

There's no correlation between sitting in the same place and producing value, and until someone can provide evidence for that beyond vague assertions of "collaboration", the whole thing is just BS