Ontario Public Service employees must return to in-person work by April 4
Employees of the Ontario Public Service (OPS) will begin returning to work in person this week voluntarily and are expected to be in the office three days per week starting April 4.
According to a memo sent out by Ontario Secretary of Cabinet Michelle DiEmanuele on Tuesday, roughly 29,000 government civil servants can return to the office on their own terms today, but the hybrid arrangement is not permanent.
“This is a temporary hybrid model. Work is underway with leaders, employees, and bargaining agents on the future of work,” DiEmanuele wrote in the memo. “We are doing this work with intentionality and thoughtful planning. We will take an approach that is adaptable, sustainable, equitable and enables us to deliver excellent public services that Ontarians rely on.”
The move impacts more than 60,000 employees in the line ministries of the Ontario government and a number of its agencies and Crown corporations.
About half of them have been working remotely for part or all of the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Approximately 29,000 OPS employees began a gradual return to work in Nov. 2021 but that was reversed totally after the arrival of the Omicron variant.
The province says it will keep proof of vaccination policies or regular rapid antigen testing requirements for the unvaccinated in place until April 4, except for in “high-risk congregate settings.”
DiEmanuele said that masks will continue to be required anywhere outside of a worker’s desk, “until masking restrictions are lifted” generally across the province.
She wrote Tuesday that about 31,000 OPS employees worked in-person, at their pre-pandemic posts throughout the pandemic.
The province formally ended mandatory use of the COVID-19 vaccine passport system in publicly-accessible settings today, and also relaxed a number of remaining capacity restrictions.
Masking remains mandatory in all indoor public settings, but Ontario Premier Doug Ford suggested Monday that may end as early as later this month.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Donald Trump picks former U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra as ambassador to Canada
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has nominated former diplomat and U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra to be the American ambassador to Canada.
Genetic evidence backs up COVID-19 origin theory that pandemic started in seafood market
A group of researchers say they have more evidence to suggest the COVID-19 pandemic started in a Chinese seafood market where it spread from infected animals to humans. The evidence is laid out in a recent study published in Cell, a scientific journal, nearly five years after the first known COVID-19 outbreak.
This is how much money you need to make to buy a house in Canada's largest cities
The average salary needed to buy a home keeps inching down in cities across Canada, according to the latest data.
'My two daughters were sleeping': London Ont. family in shock after their home riddled with gunfire
A London father and son they’re shocked and confused after their home was riddled with bullets while young children were sleeping inside.
Smuggler arrested with 300 tarantulas strapped to his body
Police in Peru have arrested a man caught trying to leave the country with 320 tarantulas, 110 centipedes and nine bullet ants strapped to his body.
Boissonnault out of cabinet to 'focus on clearing the allegations,' Trudeau announces
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced embattled minister Randy Boissonnault is out of cabinet.
Baby dies after being reported missing in midtown Toronto: police
A four-month-old baby is dead after what Toronto police are calling a “suspicious incident” at a Toronto Community Housing building in the city’s midtown area on Wednesday afternoon.
Sask. woman who refused to provide breath sample did not break the law, court finds
A Saskatchewan woman who refused to provide a breath sample after being stopped by police in Regina did not break the law – as the officer's request was deemed not lawful given the circumstances.
Parole board reverses decision and will allow families of Paul Bernardo's victims to attend upcoming parole hearing in person
The families of the victims of Paul Bernardo will be allowed to attend the serial killer’s upcoming parole hearing in person, the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) says.