‘There's flexibility, there's allowance for circumstances and this is an example of one of those accommodations’
After weeks of talk around accommodations for workers during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Ontario's finance minister says there will be "flexibility" to rules requiring civil servants to work in the office five days a week during the sporting event.
Peter Bethlenfalvy made the remarks at an unrelated news conference Wednesday, saying the province would make allowances for individual workers, according to CBC News. The accommodation applies to game days in Toronto on June 12 and 26.
He is set to take over the cabinet portfolio overseeing the return-to-office policy from outgoing minister Caroline Mulroney later this week.
"Our government has always been clear since day one. There's flexibility, there's allowance for circumstances and this is an example of one of those accommodations," Bethlenfalvy said, adding the province would "continue to move forward."
Last August, Mulroney announced the change requiring Ontario's 60,000 public service employees, along with staff at provincial agencies, boards and commissions, to increase attendance to four days per week starting Oct. 20, 2025, before moving to full-time hours on Jan. 5. The change replaced a three-day requirement that had been in place since April 2022.
Unions point to mixed messages
The shift has angered workers and the unions representing them, who argue hybrid arrangements proved successful both before and during the pandemic. Bethlenfalvy defended the mandate on Wednesday, saying office attendance allows collaboration and supports mentorship for younger staff learning to solve problems, said the CBC.
Unions said the government sent conflicting messages on FIFA. A memo obtained by CBC News and sent only to managers said staff could start earlier or finish later, or use a vacation day, to avoid anticipated crowds on roads and transit. The province later told media that managers could approve "ad hoc, occasional or temporary remote work requests to provide short-term flexibility."
The unions have sought temporary remote work for all Toronto-based employees from June 8 to July 3. They cited the City of Toronto's concerns about significant congestion, ongoing construction and disrupted sidewalk access, along with a projected increase in vehicle traffic of up to 15 per cent, according to CP24.
Dave Bulmer, president of AMAPCEO, which represents about 17,000 Ontario Public Service employees, said the rigid policy and unclear exemptions are creating problems.
"Having a blanket policy against remote work just doesn't make sense in an urban centre like Toronto," he said, according to CBC. "There's always going to be considerations that should be taken into account."
Backlog and space constraints persist
Late in May, AMAPCEO said it received responses from both the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman and Supply Ontario to their letter requesting temporary remote work arrangements for all employees working in Toronto during the FIFA World Cup.
The Office of the Ontario Ombudsman affirmed that “managers will consider requests on a case-by-case basis and may approve adjustments to remote work schedules, adjusted start and end times, or other temporary arrangements where these can be accommodated without compromising operational needs,” according to the group.
Meanwhile, Supply Ontario stated that the organization allows for “discretion for managers to address individual circumstances where required.”
OPSEU president JP Hornick, whose union represents about half the Ontario Public Service workforce, welcomed the game-day flexibility.
However, he called the policy "ill thought-out" from its conception, CBC reported. "It continues to make no sense, of course. Flexible work arrangements need to exist in the Ontario Public Service, because they have existed since the pandemic," Hornick said.
Bulmer, meanwhile, told CBC News the FIFA confusion was the latest stumble in carrying out the mandate.
