Most Canadians support a requirement to have federal public servants work a minimum of three days a week in their office, according to a new poll.
Nanos Research found that three in four Canadians support or somewhat support the in-office policy, which has led to conflict between public-sector unions and the federal government.
The three-day plan is an increase from two days in the workplace.
Specifically, 51 per cent of respondents supported the three-day plan while 24 per cent somewhat supported the idea.
Nine per cent opposed the idea while 11 per cent somewhat opposed it.
Respondents were asked the following question on the issue: “As you might know, the government has recently announced that federal public servants will be required to work in person/at the office a minimum of three days a week. Do you support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose or oppose this requirement?”
The Nanos research also found that 46 per cent of respondents prefer that federal public servants have the option of working from home part of the time, down from a 50-per-cent finding in 2022.
Thirty-nine per cent said the public servants should be required to work in person full-time, up from 31 per cent in 2022.
Research looking beyond the federal public service found that one in two employed Canadians have a work arrangement where they are required to work full-time in person.
Meanwhile, 37 per cent have a hybrid work arrangement. Sixteen per cent work from home all the time.
Nik Nanos, the chief data scientist for Nanos Research, said that, compared to 2022, an increasing portion of Canadians believe federal public servants would be more productive working full-time in person at the workplace.
“By a margin of two to one, people think those that work in the office in general terms are more likely to be productive, to one extent or another, compared to those that work from home,” Mr. Nanos said in a statement.
He said the public appears to support the government position.
“With three of four Canadians supporting or somewhat supporting the government’s announcement of a minimum three days in the office, there is general support across all demographics and regions for this move,” Mr. Nanos said.
“The only possible political calculus for the federal Liberal government on the initiative is the potential fallout among ridings in the National Capital Region, which are critical to the political fortunes of the Liberals.”
Last month, the federal government announced the three-day plan, which comes into effect in September.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), representing more than 185,000 federal workers, swiftly condemned the announcement.
Chris Aylward, the national president at the time of the announcement, criticized the plan and Sharon DeSousa, who has since replaced him in the leadership post, has promised to continue the fight. PSAC has been backed by other unions.
The Nanos research found that 45 per cent of those responding to the survey say that federal public servants are most productive working full-time in the workplace, up from 38 per cent in 2022.
Meanwhile, 39 per cent told Nanos that federal public servants are most productive with a hybrid work arrangement, down from 42 per cent in 2022.
Nanos, commissioned by The Globe and Mail, conducted the research. It involved a hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,043 people, aged 18 or older, between May 31 and June 2.
The margin of error for the survey is plus-or-minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.