Ten per cent of federal public servants cannot be accommodated in the office four days a week this fall, with the federal government hoping to reduce that to five per cent by next March as the search continues for additional office space. As of July 6, federal public servants are required to be in the office for a minimum of four days a week, while all executives have been reporting to the office five days a week since May 4. Public Services and Procurement Canada said its existing office space can accommodate approximately 90 per cent of public servants on-site four days a week, “through a combination of assigned and unassigned workstations.” The department hopes to be able to accommodate 95 per cent of federal public servants in the office four days a week by March 31, 2027. “As a common service provider, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) will continue to work with organizations to optimize existing office space and provide additional accommodations where needed, as quickly as possible,” Michèle LaRose, spokesperson for Public Services and Procurement Canada, said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa. “Organizations are currently implementing the on-site presence direction based on available space. In some cases, deputy heads have phased in implementation for certain groups of employees, such as those working in buildings or regions where available space is currently insufficient.” Three federal departments told CTV News Ottawa in the spring they would be delaying the four days a week return-to-office mandate for public servants due to a lack of office space - Global Affairs Canada, Statistics Canada and Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada. The Department of National Defence has said workspace “may be limited” at certain buildings, and implementation of the four-day office mandate will be “managed by managers.” Both Environment and Climate Change Canada and Health Canada has said there are a few locations where a phased approach to the return-to-office mandate would be needed. In July, Public Services and Procurement Canada issued an expression of interest (EOI) to identify available office space in the national capital region for potential office space. The areas included downtown Ottawa, Orleans and Kanata. Closing co-working sites The federal government is closing its co-working sites in Ottawa and Gatineau at the end of this month to reallocate office space to federal departments. There are currently 12 GCcoworking sites across Canada, including four in Ottawa: 171 Bank St., 335 River Rd., 555 Legget Dr. and 110 Place d’Orleans Dr. at Place d’Orleans. There is also a co-working site at Promenade du Portage in Gatineau. PSPC said they will close the existing GCcoworking sites on Sept. 30 to help organizations “meet their operational needs and support the implementation of the Direction on Prescribed Presence in the Workplace.” The GCcoworking sites are office spaces open to public servants in participating federal agencies, with more than 15,000 public servants in over 50 departments and agents registered. The government says each location is IT-enabled and offers individual workstations and collaborative spaces.
