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Some public service workplaces will need to find more more space to accommodate employees on site four days per week, according to the department in charge of managing government properties.
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“Our analysis shows that the increase to a four-day onsite presence for all employees will mean that certain departments will require more workstations and/or more space in certain locations,” spokesperson for Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) Michèle LaRose said in an email on Friday, April 17.
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“PSPC is working with partner departments and agencies to deliver solutions by optimizing underutilized space, renewing existing leases, and potentially acquiring additional space where requirements cannot be met within the existing portfolio.”
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PSPC declined to provide the analysis.
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LaRose said the department didn’t expect to encounter any challenges fitting executives into existing space when that cohort returned to the office five days per week on May 4. But most public servants are mandated to be in-office four days each week in July, which is an increase of one day per week over the current requirement.
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Shortly after the government announced the latest return-to-office mandate in February,critics questioned whether the policy conflicted with the government’s existing effort to shed properties.
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In 2024, the government committed PSPC to reducing its office portfolio by half over a decade. But a report from Canada’s auditor general released the follo