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A group representing federal public servants is calling on the government to clarify whether it’s planning to order employees to work in the office up to five days a week as early as next year.
On Friday, La Presse cited an internal Treasury Board Secretariat document indicating the government is considering requiring federal public servants to return to the office full time by Jan. 1, 2027. CBC has not obtained this document.
That same day, the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) wrote to Treasury Board President Shafqat Ali about continued whispers of an “imminent announcement” about new return-to-office (RTO) rules.
Specifically, workers are hearing that a new order this month will require federal employees to be in the office up to five days a week as early as 2026, CAPE president Nathan Prier wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Radio-Canada.
“These rumours are causing significant anxiety among our members, who are already facing uncertainty from workforce adjustments and unresolved issues from previous RTO directives,” Prier wrote.
Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), participates in a news conference by unions on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025.
(Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
Prier requested a call with Ali by the end of last week. CAPE also reached out to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat by phone, the association told CBC on Monday.
CAPE added that a senior officer from the secretariat called back on Friday but was “non-committal about a specific follow-up or potential meeting.”
Then, on Monday, the secretariat said it had reached out to the Privy Council Office, as well as the office of Prime Minister Mark Carney, about a meeting, according to CAPE.
“Hopefully they will get back to CAPE by the end of the day,” the association added via email on Monday.
Rules have not changed, government says
Asked whether there is any new directive planned, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat told CBC on Monday that “the direction on prescribed presence in the workplace … has not changed.”
The last major change, which came into effect last year and required employees to report in person three days a week, “was a complete fiasco,” Prier said in his letter, citing “insufficient office space” as one shortcoming of that plan.
Alex Silas, the national vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), said that if the rumours about expanded office hours are true, they are “definitely worrying.”
“The state of buildings right now would not permit for a five-day, full return to office,” he said, adding that PSAC has also asked for a meeting with Ali.
In the House of Commons on Monday, Ali was asked if five days a week is the plan.
He shook his head as he replied, “Nothing,” before adding, “I’m hearing from news outlets so … I’m not aware of that.”
Asked again on Monday if the rumoured move toward a full-time in-office requirement is true, Ali said he was looking into it but that “nothing has changed.”
CBC asked if such a move would be feasible given some federal office towards have been gutted. Ali replied that he is learning things “through different sources” and that he would go back to his team.
“I have not seen anything. Nothing [has been] brought forward to me,” he said.
