Ottawa, May 11, 2026 — PIPSC has learned that the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) is actively seeking to lease more office space to implement the federal government’s four-day return-to-office mandate, as it does not have enough room for employees in most of its locations.
The government is literally looking for more office space to enforce a policy its own buildings cannot support.
At a time when the government says it wants to cut costs, increase efficiency, and modernize the public service, departments are instead being pushed to spend more taxpayer dollars expanding office space to comply with an arbitrary mandate that collides with operational reality.
RTO is becoming a real estate exercise instead of a workforce strategy.
Employees are being forced back into overcrowded offices despite well-documented concerns about pests, asbestos, inadequate workstations, ongoing construction, cleanliness, workplace safety, and basic functionality. Public servants are commuting hours simply to do virtual work from a different desk — if they can find one at all.
Some departments have already delayed or backed away from implementing the three and four-day mandates because the logistics simply do not work. Others, including IRB, are working to acquire additional space.
If employees can do the job from home, spending millions to force them into overcrowded offices is hard to justify. The public service does not need more office leases — it needs smarter workforce planning.
Presence with purpose is the only path forward. Public servants should be in the office when there is a clear operational reason — not to satisfy a blanket mandate that is costing more, delivering less, and creating problems the government is now scrambling to solve.
This is not modernization. It’s expensive chaos.
It’s time for this government to suspend the return-to-office mandate and consult with unions.
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For more information: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (mobile), jfillion@pipsc.ca