A hybrid work model Canada’s Federal Public Servants is the way to go and the Government will not be turning back the clock, according to President of the Canadian Treasury Board, Mona Fortier.
Ms Fortier (pictured) was commenting on statements made by President of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Perrin Beatty who told a radio station interviewer it was important for Public Servants to get back to work and “for us to get back to as normal an operation as possible”.
Ms Fortier said Public Servants never stopped working and they delivered under extremely difficult circumstances when Canadians needed them most during the pandemic.
“While Public Servants delivering front-line services continued to perform their work in-person, public health measures forced much of the Federal Government to quickly learn how to operate remotely,” Ms Fortier said.
“However, now that we have some semblance of normalcy within the Public Service, we are not going back to how things used to be,” she said.
“We’re embracing this opportunity to modernise our way of working.”
Ms Fortier said virtual interactions, while convenient, were poor substitutes for experiences essential to cohesive, collaborative and high-performing organisations.
“We understand a computer screen can’t replace that kind of relationship-building and collaboration,” she said.
“That’s why, like private enterprise, the Federal Government is moving from remote-by-necessity to hybrid-by-design.”
She said in-person work better supported collaboration, team spirit, innovation and a culture of belonging.
“Being together in the workplace helps teams build trust and learn from each other. At the same time, off-site work can have benefits, such as cost savings,” Ms Fortier said.
Under this arrangement, she expected employees to be in the office at least two days a week with off-site work full-time only in exceptional circumstances.
Ottawa, 17 November 2022
