PSAC joins the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) in calling for the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates to launch a full investigation into the federal government's disastrous three-day in-office mandate.

The decision has been plagued by a lack of planning, insufficient workspaces, and growing concerns over employee well-being. Federal workers have been left to deal with overcrowded offices, poor air quality, health and safety violations, and inadequate equipment, all while trying to perform their jobs in environments that simply aren’t conducive to productivity.

“PSAC fully supports CAPE and PIPSC in their calls for an investigation into the office mandate,” said Sharon DeSousa, PSAC National President. “It’s a poorly planned, arbitrary policy that’s harming workers, reducing productivity, and wasting taxpayers’ money. It’s time for the government to face the facts and address the damage this mandate is causing across the public service.”

Read PSAC's letter calling for an investigation

PSAC has long advocated for flexible, evidence-based work arrangements, and the federal government’s own internal documents and reports admit to the positive impact of hybrid work. The calls for an investigation is a crucial step in exposing the full scale of the damage caused by this in-office mandate.

We call on the parliamentary committee to prioritize this investigation, address the systemic issues that have emerged, and ensure that federal public service workers are provided with the resources and support they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.

“It’s mindboggling that a government claiming to prioritize fairness is imposing a one-size-fits-none mandate that defies their own research,” added DeSousa. “They had all the evidence pointing to the benefits of hybrid work — more diversity, better inclusion, lower turnover — but chose to ignore it. The public service isn’t a political playground, and it deserves policies based on reason, not whim.”