Time for Government Workers to Get Back to the Office

Time for Government Workers to Get Back to the Office By Dale Jodoin Across Canada there is a new push for government workers to return to the office full-time. Both federal and provincial governments are moving toward requiring five days of in-person work. For many taxpayers, this is long overdue. People are asking why so many important public services are still hard to reach, and why employees who are paid with public money are still working from home when most other Canadians returned years ago. The Public Is Frustrated One of the main complaints from Canadians has been the difficulty of reaching government offices. For example, people who try to call the Canada Revenue Agency about their taxes often wait for hours on the phone, only to be cut off or transferred again. Others write emails or letters and never get a reply. In a country where taxes are high and the government plays a large role in daily life, waiting weeks or months for answers is not acceptable. These delays are not just annoying. They cause real problems for families and businesses. People waiting for tax refunds, benefits, or important documents often find their lives put on hold. They cannot move forward because there is no one available to help them. For many Canadians, the lack of staff in offices has made them feel abandoned by the very system they pay for. The Return to Work Order Provincial governments have started telling employees they must now return to the office full-time. Five days a week, in person. Some employees are pushing back. They say it will be hard to adjust. They argue that working from home has been easier, less stressful, and better for their mental health. At the federal level, there are similar complaints. Some workers argue that they are just as productive from home. Others say they cannot handle the return because they have built their lives around remote work. They worry about traffic, commuting time, or even the idea of being in a crowded office again. But for ordinary Canadians, these complaints often sound selfish. Construction workers, nurses, truck drivers, factory staff, and grocery clerks did not have the choice to stay home. They worked through the pandemic, often in dangerous conditions. They faced long hours, exposure to illness, and heavy stress. They did this without the luxury of working from their kitchen tables. Now, years later, government employees with secure, high-paying jobs are still fighting against returning to normal. For taxpayers who never had that option, it feels unfair. What Government Workers Gained During the years of remote work, government employees enjoyed benefits that many others could only dream of. They saved on gas and transit costs. They avoided traffic jams and long commutes. Some even claimed home office expenses on their taxes, which meant a financial benefit paid for by the public. Many worked in casual clothes or even pajamas, without the normal costs of office wear. In short, they were paid the same salaries while cutting their own expenses. Meanwhile, regular Canadians were driving to work, paying higher gas prices, and dealing with inflation. The gap in experience has not gone unnoticed. It has made many people resentful of the complaints coming from government unions and workers now being told to return. Why It Matters Government jobs are not like private jobs. They exist to serve the public. That means showing up for the public, not just answering emails from a distance. While technology can help with some tasks, many services require people in offices. Whether it is issuing passports, helping with taxes, or processing legal documents, face-to-face work is often necessary. When offices are half-empty, services suffer. This has been clear over the last few years. Passport offices faced long delays, with people lining up overnight. Taxpayers could not reach the Canada Revenue Agency during tax season. Immigration backlogs grew worse. These failures were not just bad luck. They were tied to a workforce that was not fully present. The Cost to Taxpayers Canadians are already paying high taxes to support these government jobs. Salaries, benefits, and pensions for public workers are generous compared to many private-sector jobs. Yet the return on that investment feels weak when offices cannot function. Taxpayers see less service for the same cost, which is not acceptable. At a time when Canadians are struggling with food prices, housing costs, and energy bills, hearing government employees complain about returning to work feels tone-deaf. The new attitude from the public is simple: we don’t care. Get back to work. If you do not want the job, there are plenty of people who would take it. A Shift in Attitude This may be the biggest change of all. Before the pandemic, Canadians often gave government workers the benefit of the doubt. They trusted that delays were due to red tape, not laziness. But after years of poor service, patience is gone. The average Canadian worker who shows up every day does not want to hear excuses. When public employees say they will have a “mental breakdown” if they must return to the office, Canadians roll their eyes. Mental health is important, but most Canadians deal with stress every day at work without that option. Truck drivers cannot quit because highways are stressful. Nurses cannot refuse to show up because hospitals are intense. Factory workers cannot call in from home because machines are noisy. Everyone faces challenges. Government workers should not be the exception. Teachers and Professors The same debate is happening in schools and universities. Many teachers returned to classrooms, but there are still professors and college staff teaching from home. Parents and students are frustrated. After years of disruption in education, people want stability. They want their children to have proper, in-person learning again. Universities especially have relied on remote teaching long after other parts of society reopened. Students paying high tuition fees often feel cheated when their classes are just online lectures. Once again, the pattern repeats: public or publicly funded workers avoiding the return to normal while ordinary people carry the load. Looking Forward The return-to-office movement is not just about discipline. It is about fairness. Canadians deserve a government that works for them, not one that hides behind remote screens. Offices must be staffed, phones must be answered, and services must function. That is what taxpayers are paying for. The government is right to order a return to full-time work. It is time to stop negotiating and start enforcing. If employees refuse, their jobs should be offered to others who are willing. Canada has no shortage of educated people looking for work. Positions in government are still considered desirable because of pay, benefits, and pensions. There will be no shortage of applicants. Canada is at a turning point. The pandemic is long over, yet many government workers are still clinging to pandemic rules. Ordinary Canadians are tired of excuses. They want service, they want value for their tax dollars, and they want fairness. The new public attitude is blunt: we do not care about the complaints anymore. Get back to the office. Do your jobs. If you do not want to, step aside and let someone else serve. For a country built on fairness and hard work, that is not too much to ask.