Ontario public servants required to go back to office five days a week by January

Ontario public servants will be required to return to the office full time, with employees going in-person five days a week by January 2026, the government announced Thursday.

Treasury Board President Caroline Mulroney said in a press release that the province has been monitoring in-workplace standards across the public and private sectors, and the decision "represents the current workforce landscape."

She said employees who have been going into the office for a minimum of three days a week will increase their attendance to four days a week starting on Oct. 20. with a gradual transition to five days a week in the office by Jan. 5, 2026. 

More than half of Ontario's public servants are already required to attend the workplace full time, she said. 

Premier Doug Ford said he believes employees are more productive when they work in-person.

"How do you mentor someone over a phone? You can't. You've got to look at them eye to eye," Ford said at an unrelated press conference Thursday morning.

Ford added that many businesses in downtown Toronto suffered after losing foot traffic due to remote work policies.

Dave Bulmer president of AMAPCEO, a union representing management and administrative workers, including 14,000 public service employees, said he was "incensed" by the decision.

"The Ontario Public Service employer was hellbent on removing your right to remote work in the last two rounds of bargaining," Bulmer said in a press release Thursday afternoon. 

"We have shown that we can, and should, be treated as the capable, trustworthy professionals we are — professionals capable of working for Ontario from anywhere."

Thursday's announcement comes after some private sector companies, including several Canadian banks, announced that employees would be required to spend more time at the office.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2025.