Remote work option ending for thousands of workers in 2026

The new year will bring some big changes to the rules on in-office work for many employees across the country — including provincial government staff in Ontario and Alberta.

The new year will bring some big changes to the rules on in-office work for many employees across the country — including tens of thousands of provincial government staff in Ontario and Alberta who will soon be required back in the office full-time.

As of Jan. 5, Ontario provincial government employees will be expected to work in the office five days per week.

Alberta’s public service is also returning to full-time, in-office work in February to “strengthen collaboration, accountability and service delivery for Albertans,” a spokesperson for the Alberta government said.

While several provinces, including Manitoba, British Columbia and New Brunswick, retain more flexible hybrid work rules, others are reviewing their policies.

A spokesperson for the government of Newfoundland and Labrador said the province is looking at its remote work policy.

The government of the Northwest Territories is also reviewing its remote work policy, though a spokesperson said there are no plans to require employees to return to the workplace on-site five days a week.

It’s still not clear when federal public servants will have to increase their office presence, or by how much. Prime Minister Mark Carney promised last month that a plan would soon come into “sharper view.”

Carney said his government will be “engaging with the public sector unions on the modalities” of the back-to-office policy, with details about the plan to be made public “over the course of the next several weeks.”