For some employees in the country, the new year means new rules for in-person work.
As of Jan. 1, government staff in Ontario are required to be back in the office full-time. Alberta’s public service is also returning to full-time, in-office work in February.
“All we’re asking is that people come back into the office like every other person that’s working out there, vast majority,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday.
Some other jurisdictions, including Newfoundland and Labrador, are now reviewing their remote work policy.
In the Maritimes, the Nova Scotia government ordered 3,500 non-unionized employees back to the office in October 2024.
A spokesperson for the Public Service Commission told Global News that “any further changes” to remote work arrangements will be “communicated as appropriate.”
Meanwhile, New Brunswick government employees are offered three options: fully remote, hybrid or full-time in-office work. The province even says it views remote work as an “important tool.”
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A statement from the province said that remote work arrangements are granted when “mutually advantageous to both employees and the employer.”
“Remote work helps us extend employment opportunities to all regions of New Brunswick, improve our competitiveness for talent, and maintain a presence in rural communities,” communications advisor Mir Hyder wrote.
“We continue to view flexible work arrangements as an important tool for talent recruitment and retention across the province.”
Moshe Lander, an economics professor at Concordia University, says just because Ontario and Alberta are eliminating remote work for their public service, it doesn’t mean the Maritimes will follow suit.
“It’s [a question of] what does the voter feel that they should be getting from their government services,” Lander said.
He adds that the in-person approach has become antiquated in the workplace.
“I think especially since COVID, it’s almost impossible that someone is in the labour force today and is not familiar with Zoom or [Microsoft] Teams or other ways of linking up,” he said.
Federal public servants have been required to work a minimum of three days a week in-office, with executives in the office four days per week, since September 2024.
Several banks, including Scotiabank, have required staff to increase their presence in the office to four days per week.
Private sector companies have also made changes. Amazon, for example, began requiring its corporate staff to be in the office five days per week as of Jan. 2.
— with a file from The Canadian Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
‘Important tool’: New Brunswick keeps remote work options for public service workers
