Carney says back-to-office plan for federal civil servants coming soon

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday his government’s plan to get public servants to spend more time in the office will come into “sharper view” over the next several weeks.

The issue came up when Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe asked Carney about the prospect of public sector job cuts during the mayor’s monthly breakfast event with the Ottawa Board of Trade and the Ottawa Business Journal.

Carney said his government will be “engaging with the public sector unions on the modalities” of the back-to-office policy.

“We will come to a much sharper view on it over the course of the next several weeks,” he said.

“There will likely be different levels of return depending on seniority, depending on the role and obviously, depending on capacity.”

Carney said the amount of time public servants will be expected to be in the office in-person will be set at different levels, depending on individual roles and seniority.

Addressing job cuts, Carney said the civil service grew to an unsustainable size over the last decade.

He said much of the reduction in the size of the public service will come through conventional retirement, early retirement and “other adjustments.”

Unions representing public sector workers said last week hundreds of their members have received notice their jobs may be cut.

Departments facing cuts include Natural Resources Canada, the Public Service Commission of Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations, Northern Affairs Canada and the finance department.

After the question-and-answer session with the prime minister, Sutcliffe said he thinks adding another “day or two” in the office for civil servants is feasible.

The mayor said in the meantime, the city is working on expanding transit options and opening the next phase of the light rail system.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how (return-to-office) plans roll out. I’ve seen some of the reports. We want to see our downtown thriving and prosperous. It’s been a challenging time over the last few years since COVID,” Sutcliffe said.

Carney said another priority for the civil service is to expand its use of artificial intelligence for “the less interesting components” of public sector work.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2025.

—With files from Catherine Morrison.