Ontario’s public sector is bracing for a shakeup as the province mandates a full return to office for 60,000 employees, igniting debate over the future of hybrid work and the challenge of retaining top talent.
Premier Doug Ford’s government has declared that by January, Ontario Public Service staff must work entirely from their offices, ending the flexibility many professionals have relied on since the pandemic’s onset. The transition begins this October, asking employees to show up at least four days a week before moving to a permanent office-based model. This decision is already rippling across ministries and agencies, hitting unions like AMAPCEO, which represents 14,000 professionals, particularly hard.
AMAPCEO president Dave Bulmer is blunt about the consequences. In his words, losing hybrid work threatens both worker retention and recruitment. Bulmer points to the highly skilled workforce he represents and warns, “Nobody’s going to come to an OPS that doesn’t have hybrid work…we have lots of people who are with the OPS who are probably going to move on now.”
Meanwhile, Maria Gintova, an assistant professor at McMaster University who has studied public sector work arrangements, describes the new mandate as dismissive of employee input and warns it could limit diversity by restricting geographic access to jobs. Research supports her argument that flexibility is key to work-life balance and attracting a wider talent pool.
The province, however, stands by its move. Treasury Board’s communications director Andrea Chiappetta says the policy “aligns with other provinces, cities and organizations,” and maintains that Ontario remains confident in attracting and keeping top talent. Official goals include lowering the public service attrition rate to 4.2 per cent and boosting applications per job opening.
Union leaders and public policy experts are unconvinced, arguing that scrapping hybrid options risks undermining morale and shrinking the very workforce Ontario needs to stay competitive. As negotiations continue and other public bodies follow suit, the battle over hybrid work is far from finished, and the outcome will shape the future of public service employment in the province.
References:
How scrapping remote work could affect Ontario public sector recruitment
