Ottawa's federal public servants are the backbone of the local economy, and the cost of getting them back to their desks is now public.
Where the money is going
The biggest line items come from some of the departments with a heavy presence in the National Capital Region. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada said it will spend almost $5.7 million. Fisheries and Oceans Canada put its cost at $4.2 million. The Canada Border Services Agency estimated its costs at $3.9 million, and the Correctional Service of Canada said it plans to spend $1.37 million. Those four organizations alone account for more than $15 million of the total.
Why the money is being spent now
Thousands of federal public servants started a new work schedule in July requiring them to be on-site four days a week, up from the hybrid arrangements many had settled into. That shift is what's driving the spending: departments have had to find desks, technology and space for a much larger share of their workforce showing up in person on any given day.
Part of the fix is 266 federal co-working sites being assigned to federal organizations to help absorb the increased office presence, spreading staff across buildings rather than cramming everyone back into their old towers.
Not everyone is back yet. About 10 per cent of public servants aren't able to return to the office under the new rules, and capacity is expected to reach about 95 per cent by March 31, 2027, meaning the accommodation costs could keep climbing before this is finished.
Where the numbers came from
The spending figures weren't offered up voluntarily. They came in response to an order paper question from NDP MP Heather McPherson, the kind of formal written question MPs use to force departments to put numbers on the record.
Asked to justify the mandate itself, Treasury Board Secretary Bill Matthews didn't point to any research backing up four-in-office days. He described the mandate as a philosophical choice rather than an evidence-based one, saying he has no study showing it's a better way of doing things.
The condition of the buildings people are returning to
The spending comes as questions persist about the state of federal office space itself. Dozens of federal buildings have reported pests including mice, rats, bats and bedbugs since 2020, a detail that's likely to sting for workers being told to spend more days in those same buildings.
What it means for Ottawa
For a city where the federal government is the single largest employer, this isn't an abstract Ottawa River story. Whether the four-day mandate holds, and whether the $18.7 million keeps growing as capacity climbs toward 95 per cent, will keep shaping how full, or empty, Ottawa's federal core feels well into 2027.
Sources: The Canadian Press, insauga.com
