The COVID-19 pandemic was officially declared over in May 2023, but the hybrid work model that it -- along with technology – helped to cement is here to stay, a new report for the C.D. Howe Institute finds.
Hybrid work, in which employees work at least one or two days each week from home, has become the most common arrangement in Canada, according to a report by Tammy Schirle, a professor of economics at Wilfrid Laurier University, for the C.D. Howe Institute.
That is not the case in all countries. Countries like Japan and South Korea, for example, which have strong office cultures, have to a great extent returned to pre-pandemic work situations in which most workers work in the office.
Schirle’s report notes that, in the spring of 2020, at the height of the pandemic, 42 per cent of Canadians spent at least part of their work week working from home. As of 2023, that was down to 26 per cent.
That has not change much since 2023. Roughly one-quarter of Canadian workers still work from home. Most have some sort of hybrid work arrangement.
“This stability suggests that hybrid is a new normal in Canada’s evolving labour market,” Schirle said in a press release accompanying the report.
Those who still work primarily, if not exclusively, from home tend to be “more educated, work for large employers, and are more likely to have young children,” Schirle notes.
Interestingly, there are some sharp differences according to regions.
“Ottawa and Gatineau have some of the highest rates of remote work in the country, with 35 percent of employees in the nation’s capital working entirely from home,” Schirle said. “By contrast, only 12 percent of employees in Saskatchewan are doing any work-from-home, highlighting the regional disparities in access to remote work.”
Finance, insurance, and professional services are industries with the highest remote work adoption.
Schirle’s report notes a relationship between remote work and commuting times. Cities with longer commute times, like Toronto and Vancouver, tend to have higher rates of work-from-home arrangements. There is also a demographic relationship, with younger workers in their 30s more likely to work remotely.
“This is common when people have young children at home and would enjoy flexibility in their schedules to manage childcare and family activities,” the report notes.
While there are obvious benefits to employees who can have flexible remote work schedules, there are also benefits to employers.
“There are several potential benefits to work-from-home arrangements,” Schirle’s report notes. “For employers, this can reduce the space and infrastructure required to have employees at a single worksite.”
