Some federal departments don't have office space for returning workers

Some federal public servants are unable to return to their offices three days a week because their departments lack enough space for them.

In May, the federal government announced workers would return to the office three days a week, starting Monday. There is some flexibility built in to ease the transition, but employees are initially expected to spend 60 per cent of their time at the office. 

Executives must now be in the office at least four days a week.

The federal public service, which is growing, turned to remote work in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Public service unions argue their members have proven they can work just as efficiently from home, and without the need to commute. Their employer has disagreed.

At the same time, the federal government has been trying to offload unused office space, sometimes for conversion to housing to help ease the current shortage.

• Are you a federal public servant who's returning to the office this week? How's it going? Please reach out by email.

Last week, Radio-Canada contacted some 15 federal government departments to ask about their plans for this week's return. Some acknowledged they couldn't meet the demand for office space.

• Shared Services Canada said not all its workplaces could support all employees working three days a week, so it's giving some temporary exemptions that will be reviewed yearly.
• Ten Employment and Social Development Canada locations may not have enough space, a spokesperson said.
• Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada said it doesn't have the office space in the Ottawa-Gatineau area for the move to three days a week because of the larger scope of its work. Executives will go to the office four days a week but other employees may only go in for two, it said.
• Similarly, Statistics Canada workers in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver are sticking to two days a week in the office, the agency said.

Other departments indicated they have enough office space to accommodate all employees for three days a week.

A spokesperson for Minister of Public Services and Procurement (PSPC) Jean-Yves Duclos told Radio-Canada that department also has enough unassigned office space to accommodate the change to three days a week.

"PSPC will always provide sufficient office space to support federal departments and agencies to deliver on their programs and mandate," the spokesperson wrote.

Public Services and Procurement Canada manages office space for more than 270,000 federal public servants. As of March 31, there were about 368,000 federal workers, according to government data.

Eric Champagne, director of the University of Ottawa's Centre on Governance, said the nuance around there being "enough space" might be that some departments have a surplus of available space, while others are staring at a deficit.

In addition to their own workspaces, employees will also need access to meeting spaces and smaller private rooms, he said.