Which major companies in Canada have asked staff to return to the office?

CTV News

2 days ago

A woman walks in the financial district in Toronto on Sept. 20, 2022. (Alex Lupul / The Canadian Press)
A few years after the COVID-19 pandemic, more employers are focusing on in-person collaboration, with one workplace culture expert saying some are asking workers to return to the office.
'We're seeing a shift in employer priorities because organizations coming back from (COVID-19) are emphasizing more collaboration, culture and oversight, especially in jobs or in roles where teamwork and client engagement are emphasized,' Candy Ho, a consultant for HR departments from different companies, said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca on Friday.
While more companies have moved away from fully remote work since the days of lockdowns and COVID-19 concerns, Ho, a professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University near Vancouver, expects the trend to 'stabilize' rather than continue to accelerate.
'It resides with individual employers ... when they look at their profitability, for instance, and productivity levels of employees, and whether or not they're working from home and in person, there are two sides of the coin.'
Ho, a board member of the Canadian National Career Development Association, says employees may be more productive when they have more control and flexibility working from home. On the flip side, people with jobs that require more collaboration may find it makes more sense to be in the office.
With news this week of Royal Bank of Canada shifting away from fully remote work, here are some of the major companies in the country that have made similar moves:
Royal Bank of Canada
RBC asked some employees to be in the office four times a week beginning in September, Reuters reported Thursday. Memos were sent by business leaders from the Toronto-based bank on Thursday, following the announcement of its second-quarter earnings, which were lower than analysts' expectations. The policy doesn't apply for fully remote workers and those who are already working in the office full-time, according to Reuters. A spokesperson was quoted as saying that RBC 'is a relationship-driven bank and in-person, human connection is core to our winning culture.'
Some staff complained about the move during conversations in internal chat groups, noting the extra travel time and expenses, Reuters reported.
RBC didn't immediately respond to CTVNews.ca's request for comments.
National Bank of Canada
When asked about Montreal-based National Bank's back-to-office policy in Canada, a spokesperson said it varies.
'At National Bank, each team defines its way of working based on its specific needs and those of our clients,' a spokesperson wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Friday. 'Some teams work entirely on-site, while others follow a hybrid model that combines in-person and remote work.'
The spokesperson didn't respond to CTVNews.ca's request for more details.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
CIBC began asking staff from its global corporate and investment-banking unit to return to the office five days a week, Bloomberg reported in January 2025. The news outlet cited people with knowledge of the situation.
CIBC didn't immediately respond to questions from CTVNews.ca about its current policy.
'At CIBC, the amount of time employees spend in the office depends on their role, taking into consideration things like the nature of their work and where they'll best meet our clients' needs,' spokesperson Andrew McGrath was quoted as saying in the Bloomberg report in January. 'For some teams, that may mean more days in the office, and for others, it may mean more days working remotely.'
CIBC had asked staff in Canada to work remotely amid growing concerns about COVID-19 in December 2021, Reuters reported at the time. In 2021, the Toronto-based bank said staff who had returned on-site were asked to work remotely again.
JPMorgan Chase
Hybrid workers from New York-based bank JPMorgan Chase, which has more than 600 workers in Canada, have been asked to work in the office for five days a week since March, Reuters reported.
JPMorgan Chase didn't immediately respond to CTVNews.ca's question about whether its Canadian staff was affected.
Facebook
Meta Platforms Inc., parent company of Facebook, was a strong advocate of remote work during the pandemic, but Bloomberg reported in March 2023 the company encouraged staff to return to the office.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement at the time that some early analysis suggests 'engineers who either joined Meta in-person and then transferred to remote or remained in-person performed better on average than people who joined remotely,' according to the news report.
Meta had created a policy in 2021 to allow all staff to work remotely if they could work outside the office, even after the pandemic.
When asked what is Meta's current back-to-office policy in Canada, a spokesperson said in an email to CTVNews.ca on Friday that its policy currently allows employees to work three days a week in office, and those who've been with the company for more than 18 months are eligible to apply for remote work.
The spokesperson did not immediately provide more information when asked for more details.
Amazon
Amazon has decided in-office work is best for employees.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy shared guidelines about its policy, which also applies to staff in Canada, in a message in September 2024. In the letter addressed to all staff, Jassy said the advantages of being together in the office 'are significant' after the company observed the situation with those working in the office at least three days a week over the past 15 months.
Jassy said this policy will allow people to be 'better set up to invent, collaborate, and be connected enough to each other and our culture to deliver the absolute best for customers and the business.'
Still, Jassy said it will continue to allow people to work remotely, as it did in some cases even before the pandemic, for 'extenuating circumstances,' such as family emergencies like a sick child, or if staff are approved to work outside the office.
With files from Reuters and Bloomberg