Return-to-Office Mandate Makes OSPE’s Guidance on Flexible Work More Critical Than Ever

On August 14, 2025, Premier Doug Ford and Treasury Board President Caroline Mulroney announced that over 60,000 Ontario Public Service (OPS) workers must return to the office full-time by January 5, 2026. The rollout begins October 20, when hybrid workers -currently in the office three days a week- will be required to work four days in-person, before transitioning to full-time office attendance in the new year. 

This top-down directive quickly drew criticism. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) condemned the plan for lacking transparency and failing to consult frontline workers; many of whom rely on flexible work due to caregiving responsibilities, disabilities, or long commutes. 

What Our Report Reveals: Flexibility Done Right 

Our new report, Finding the Right Balance: An Evidence-Based Examination of Flexible Work Arrangements, commissioned by Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) Canada and developed through OSPE’s member surveys, employer interviews, and a wide audit of national and international studies, offers a clear path forward: 

• The Need for Sustainable Flexibility: Engineers overwhelmingly favour flexible work arrangements; but employers also have legitimate operational needs. 

• The Stakes of Inflexibility: Without flexibility, organizations risk lower job satisfaction, higher turnover, and critical recruitment challenges, particularly for women. 

• Balanced Approaches Work: Hybrid models that integrate two scheduled Work from Home (WFH) days per week, overlapping in-office days, and formal mentorship structures, consistently yield benefits like higher productivity, reduced commuting time, and better work–life balance without sacrificing collaboration. 

• Critical for Inclusion: For women in engineering, flexibility is not a perk, it’s essential. Our data shows 53% of women deem WFH essential, compared to 38% of men. Removing flexibility disproportionately undermines diversity and retention. 

Why This Matters Now 

Ontario’s sweeping mandate underscores the urgency of aligning workplace policies with equity and organizational resilience, so as not to run the following risks: 

1. Lost Talent & Diversity: A rigid return timeline may push out women and caregivers and erode the gains we’ve made in engineering diversity. 

2. Reduced Mentorship & Culture: Our findings indicate that informal mentoring suffers when employees are remote more than two days a week unless intentional measures are in place. 

Organizations can avoid the extremes, neither blanket mandates nor unchecked flexibility works. A structured hybrid model is proven to deliver. 

Taking It Forward 

The real question isn’t whether engineers should return to the office; but how that return is designed. OSPE’s guidance shines a spotlight on flexibility models that uphold operational integrity while safeguarding recruitment, retention, mentorship, and diversity. 

As Ontario public service workers shift to a full in-office policy in early 2026, our report offers an evidence-backed alternative: hybrid work designed intentionally and inclusively. It’s time to move beyond one-size-fits-all solutions, and create resilient workplaces that truly work for everyone.