Some Canadian Gov. Workers Get Remote-work Extension

The Canadian federal government, recognizing the advantages of remote working, is granting an extra year of work-from-home opportunities to some of their staff before the March 31st deadline, when returning to the offices two days a week is expected. Treasury Board President Mona Fortier noted that the government will use the year to examine the perks of remote working.

What’s going on:

The Canadian federal government is giving some of its staff an additional year of remote work before the March 31st deadline arrives — when workers are supposed to return to their offices two days a week.

Treasury Board President Mona Fortier said that the government will use this year to carefully evaluate the advantages of remote working in places such as the Canada Revenue Agency and the Departments of Immigration, Employment, and Social Development.

Why it matters:

The Procurement Department’s pay center and public service adjudicators for the Immigration and Refugee Board will carry on working remotely for the coming year, even though in December Minister Fortier said that all government departments must go into the office two days a week in order to level the playing field in terms of the hybrid work style in the public service.

Catherine Luelo, Canada’s Chief Information Officer, mentioned in a letter shortly after that up to 20% of IT personnel would be allowed to remain working from home.

How it’ll impact the future:

On Wednesday, the Treasury Board said that each department will evaluate requests for remote working accommodations based on each individual case.

Jennifer Carr, President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service, didn’t anticipate the hybrid model to be completely in effect in the near future.