Ottawa-area and Ontario civil servants who dutifully packed up their home offices and made their way back to government buildings in January may want to sit down for this one.
Premier Doug Ford — the man who made the controversial call ordering Ontario's public servants back to the office — was himself regularly working from home during the same period, according to documents obtained by Global News.
A copy of Ford's official itinerary, covering five weeks starting in early January, shows the premier took a range of meetings either at his house or virtually, rather than in person at Queen's Park or another government office. The revelation has fuelled accusations of a glaring double standard from a premier who staked out a firm position on in-person work.
The Return-to-Office Mandate
Earlier this year, the Ford government directed Ontario's roughly 65,000 provincial employees to return to their offices full-time, ending hybrid arrangements that had become the norm since the COVID-19 pandemic. The move was framed as necessary for productivity, collaboration, and accountability — language that echoed similar pushes by the federal government affecting thousands of workers in Ottawa and across the country.
For many civil servants, especially those in Ottawa who commute to provincial offices or work in federal roles under similar mandates, the directive meant real disruptions: longer commutes, childcare reshuffling, and a loss of flexibility that many had come to rely on.
Ford's Schedule Tells a Different Story
Global News's review of the premier's itinerary found that Ford's own work week looked quite different. Over the five-week window, Ford held meetings at his home and conducted virtual calls — the very arrangements he had directed civil servants to leave behind.
The premier's office has not disputed the accuracy of the itinerary. Spokesperson Ivana Yelich told Global News that the premier works wherever needed to get the job done, noting the demands of his schedule are different from a typical office worker's.
Critics, however, say that argument misses the point.
Political Fallout
Opposition parties were quick to pounce. NDP and Liberal MPPs called the situation a textbook example of rules for thee but not for me, arguing that the burden of the return-to-office mandate has fallen disproportionately on front-line workers and lower-level staff — not on executives and political leaders who have far more control over their schedules.
Labour advocates echoed the frustration. Many public sector workers, including members of CUPE Ontario and OPSEU, had already raised concerns about the blanket mandate, arguing it ignored demonstrated productivity gains during the hybrid era and punished workers who had reorganized their lives around flexible arrangements.
What It Means for Ottawa
For readers in Ottawa, the story resonates on multiple levels. The city has one of the highest concentrations of government workers in the country, and the return-to-office debate has shaped daily life here more than almost anywhere else — from transit ridership numbers to downtown restaurant foot traffic to the rental market.
Federal workers in Ottawa are navigating their own version of this tension, with the Treasury Board also pressing for increased in-office attendance. Advocates have argued consistently that flexibility should be judged on outcomes, not optics — and Ford's schedule, as revealed by his own itinerary, may have just handed them their most vivid talking point yet.
Source: Global News
