The majority of Canadians support federal public servants being required to work a minimum of three days in-office, according to a new poll.
Nanos Research asked Canadians if they supported or somewhat supported an in-office policy for federal employees amid an ongoing conflict between the federal government and public-sector unions.
The two sides are arguing about increasing the two-day in-office work week to three days. The unions are fighting against it, despite the public support.
The poll found that 51% of respondents supported the change, while another 24% somewhat supported it.
Only 9% of respondents didn’t support the idea of a three work days in-office.
Additionally, the poll found that 46% of respondents preferred that federal public servants were given the option of working from home some of the time, marking a slight decrease from 50%, when the same poll was conducted in 2022.
However, 39% said they believed public servants should be required to work in-office full time, an increase from 31% in 2022.
Outside of federal public servants, the poll found that 50% of employed Canadians have a work arrangement which mandates that they work in the office full time: 37% have a hybrid work arrangement and 16% work from home full-time.
The poll found an increase in Canadians believing that federal public servants would be more productive if they worked in-office full time, when compared to the same poll from 2022.
“By a margin of two to one, people think those that work in the office in general terms are more likely to be productive, to one extent or another, compared to those that work from home,” chief data scientist of Nanos Research Nik Nanos told the Globe and Mail.
Overall, the public appears to be in favour of the government’s position.
“With three of four Canadians supporting or somewhat supporting the government’s announcement of a minimum three days in the office, there is general support across all demographics and regions for this move,” said Nanos.
“The only possible political calculus for the federal Liberal government on the initiative is the potential fallout among ridings in the National Capital Region, which are critical to the political fortunes of the Liberals.”
Around 155,000 Public Service Alliance of Canada members walked off the job last year to maintain the twice-a-week hybrid model.
“Now, you will be protected from arbitrary decisions about remote work by the government,” wrote the PSAC in a statement last June.
The union called the situation a “watershed moment” for workers’ rights at the time. Now, along with the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, they say they have been blindsided by the federal government.
However, the federal government announced its three-day in-office plan, which is slated to begin in September.
