Prime Minister Mark Carney is ordering federal public servants to work in the office four days a week, starting July 6.

The order comes after the Carney government previously indicated it would cut thousands of public-service positions, former Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government initiated efforts to repurpose office properties across the country.

The Carney government’s return-to-office plan was communicated in a letter sent to all government department heads by the Treasury Board, increasing the current three-day in-office requirement, The Toronto Star reported. Under the new directive issued Thursday, senior executives will be required to return to the office full-time, five days a week, beginning May 4.

The move is expected to spark pushback from public-service unions, which had warned in recent weeks against what they described as a unilateral change to hybrid-work arrangements, while also expressing concern about the expected reductions in federal positions.

Reacting to the RTO announcement, a union leader contended that there had been no prior consultation.

“This is just insulting. I’d like to say I’m surprised, but I’m not,” said Sean O’Reilly, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, which represents more than 80,000 members, told the Star.

A spokesman for Treasury Board President Shafqat Ali confirmed the directive to the Star and said the government believes the change will improve public-service delivery.

“We recognize that this decision is occurring during a challenging period, when employees are already dealing with change and uncertainty,” wrote Mohammad Kamal. “TBS will be engaging with bargaining agents to seek their input on how best to implement this approach, and to ensure that public service employees have the tools and supports they need to succeed.”

O’Reilly said he does not believe the policy will benefit taxpayers or improve productivity and suggested it could be a step toward a full-time return.

“They say four days now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they change it,” he said, adding that “every Canadian will be touched” by the change through longer commutes and broader impacts on workers.

The federal plan stops short, for now, of the Ontario government’s requirement that provincial public servants return to the office five days a week, a policy that has led to thousands of requests for alternative work arrangements.

The federal return-to-office order also comes after the former Trudeau government pledged in 2023 to invest $1.1 billion in the conversion of its underused office buildings into housing.

The goal is to transform 50% of the federal office portfolio into 250,000 new homes by 2031, the government said in a budget backgrounder. Jean-Yves Duclos, then-minister of public services and procurement, had hinted of the plan in October 2023, when he told CTV News that the government needs to repurpose office buildings into residential properties as it disposes of federal properties in Ottawa.

Many of the conversions are expected to occur in the nation’s capital, and Duclos called for its downtown to be revitalized.

Meanwhile, the government is in the process of redeveloping structures on National Defence lands for military and civilian purposes.

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