Return-to-office four days a week isn’t ‘philosophy,’ it’s dogma

Public servants are expected to justify laws, policies, and programs with rigorous analysis and clear value for money. Yet for this sweeping change to their own working conditions, the government has produced no cost-benefit analysis or productivity data.

Treasury Board secretary Bill Matthews was wrong to characterize public servants returning to the office four days a week as a ‘philosophical choice’ when he addressed a parliamentary committee in May, writes Gregory Harlow.The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY GREGORY HARLOW

July 9, 2026

Since Prime Minister Mark Carney committed to increasing office presence for public servants in December 2025—at a ticketed...

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