The federal government has closed all of its GCcoworking sites in Ottawa and Gatineau, redirecting the office space to departments scrambling to accommodate a new four-day-a-week in-office requirement for public servants.
Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) had piloted the GCcoworking program to support hybrid work arrangements, offering unassigned seating that let staff from more than 50 departments work without returning to their home offices. The network included 13 sites across the country, among them four in Ottawa and two in Gatineau.
As of Sept. 30, every GCcoworking location in Ottawa, Gatineau and the rest of Canada has shut down, with its 266 workstations handed over to federal departments to help meet their space needs. PSPC told CTV News Ottawa that the Ottawa and Gatineau sites will now go to the Department of National Defence, Employment and Social Development Canada, and PSPC itself.
“The spaces have been allocated based on operational needs and organizational demand,” PSPC said. Five additional GCcoworking sites elsewhere in Canada are also being reassigned to other departments. The closures follow three earlier shutdowns of GCcoworking locations, including sites on de la Cite Boulevard in Gatineau and Bay Street in Toronto, which closed in June.
Millions Spent on Office Reconfiguration
Documents tabled in the House of Commons last week show federal departments and agencies will spend more than $18 million to reconfigure or acquire office space in order to accommodate the four-day office mandate.
The space crunch is significant: roughly 10 per cent of federal public servants cannot currently be accommodated in offices four days a week this fall because of a shortage of space. The government has set a target of accommodating 95 per cent of public servants under the four-day mandate by March 31, 2027.
Departments Seeking More Room
In July, PSPC issued an expression of interest seeking available office space for potential leases in the national capital region. Several departments have already had to adjust their timelines or approach because of space constraints. Global Affairs Canada, Statistics Canada, and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada all delayed their four-day return-to-office mandates due to insufficient office space.
The Department of National Defence has said workspace “may be limited” at some of its buildings, with implementation of the four-day mandate to be “managed by managers” on a case-by-case basis. Environment and Climate Change Canada and Health Canada have each indicated that a phased approach will be necessary at a small number of locations as they work toward full compliance with the policy.
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