Separate government agencies divided on applying work-from-office rules

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Separate agencies within the federal government, including the Canada Revenue Agency and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, are divided on whether to adopt new rules that will increase public servants’ office presence come September.

In May, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat announced that all federal public servants under its purview — also known as the core public administration — would have to work on-site at least three days a week by Sept. 9. Executive employees are expected to be in the office at least four days a week.

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As of the end of March, the population of the federal public service was 367,772. Of those, 282,152 were part of the core public administration, while 85,620 worked for separate agencies.

While a Treasury Board message to deputy ministers said that separate agencies were “strongly encouraged” to implement a similar remote work plan, organizations are divided on whether to adopt the government mandate, with some still exploring options.

As of August, nine separate agencies said they planned to adopt a policy requiring their employees to be in the office at least three days a week. Seven organizations said that they didn’t plan to adopt the policy or that it didn’t apply to them, with five separate agencies still unsure. Four organizations didn’t respond either way.

Matt Ellis, a spokesperson for the National Research Council of Canada, said that organization would comply with the government’s changes to the direction on prescribed presence in the workplace, with its more than 4,000 employees expected to follow the new rules in advance of the Sept. 9 timeline set by Treasury Board.

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Other organizations planning to follow the new rules include Parks Canada, Communications Security Establishment, Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, Office of the Correctional Investigator, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Canada Revenue Agency.

CFIA’s new rules will take effect on Oct. 21, with CIHR expected to align with the direction in fall of 2025, once the organization has moved to new offices and has more space. OSFI said it intended to “eventually” follow Treasury Board’s model and was considering its implementation date.

According to spokesperson Etienne Biram, CRA is aligning with the updated hybrid work model with the agency working towards having all employees follow the new requirements “as soon as feasible.” He said the CRA expected “some differences in the timing and application of the new direction” due to real property availability.

Seven separate agencies have said they won’t follow in Treasury Board’s footsteps in updating their remote work policies, with some indicating they already required significant in-office presence. They include the Canadian Energy Regulator, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC), National Capital Commission, National Film Board, National Security and Intelligence Review Agency Secretariat (NSIRA) and Office of the Intelligence Commissioner.

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Justin Dubois, a spokesperson for the Office of the Intelligence Commissioner, said the small, eight- to 10-person team working at the organization mostly worked with classified materials “almost exclusively” from the office, so Treasury Board’s announcement didn’t affect how it operated.

Spokespeople from FCAC, CSIS and the NSIRA also indicated that their organizations already required regular in-office presence.

Ally Taylor, a spokesperson for the Canadian Energy Regulator, said that organization was not considering changes or updates to its remote work policies, which allow staff to stay home up to three days a week, but wanted to ensure “general alignment with the policy intent of the federal government.”

“Our commitment to providing flexibility and maintaining a healthy work-life balance for our employees remains unchanged,” Taylor said.

Magalie Boutin of the National Film Board said it didn’t plan to change the guidelines as it just completed a restructuring and “other priorities are on the executive agenda.”

The Canadian High Arctic Research Station, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Office of the Auditor General of Canada indicated they were unsure whether they would adopt the changes, with most noting they were either reviewing the decision or assessing the implications of the direction for their organizations.

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Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services (Staff of the Non-Public Funds, Canadian Forces), Indian Oil and Gas Canada, the Invest in Canada Hub and the Northern Pipeline Agency did not respond to requests for comment on whether they would update their remote work policies to align with the core public service.

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