Sisters, Brothers and Friends,
As you know, on February 5, the federal government announced its intention to increase mandatory on-site presence to four days per week for federal public service workers, effective July 6, 2026. This announcement was made without any consultation with the unions.
That same day, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that it would comply with this new directive, even though the Agency is a separate employer from the Treasury Board and is only “encouraged to follow the same approach.”
This announcement was made in the middle of a round of bargaining, while our members have been without a collective agreement since November 1, 2025.
From the outset, we denounced this unilateral, ill-advised decision, which is disconnected from the reality experienced by our members. Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has filed an Unfair Labour Practice Complaint against the government and, on behalf of the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE), against the CRA. In fact, PSAC has filed a statutory freeze complaint, a measure that can be taken when an employer unilaterally changes employees’ working conditions while the parties are in bargaining.
Since this announcement, we have continued to raise this issue directly with senior management at the CRA. During our discussions, the Agency committed to providing its employees with at least sixty (60) days’ notice before they would be required to comply with the new mandatory on-site presence requirement. The Commissioner also committed to discussing the matter with the presidents of UTE and the AFS group before making any announcement on this issue, which is very important to the vast majority of our members.
Following these discussions and commitments, I was invited to attend a meeting with the CRA Commissioner and senior human resources officials, which took place a few days ago.
During this meeting, the Commissioner and I discussed this issue in depth. Once again, I reiterated our opposition to any imposed mandatory on-site presence and requested that telework and remote work be discussed at the bargaining table. I also reminded him of the many reasons why the Agency should not move forward with increasing on-site presence to four days per week, including the exorbitant costs for the employer and the government, increased costs for employees, the fact that the Agency is a separate employer from the Treasury Board, the lack of space in several offices, inadequate work areas and working conditions, and the fact that members of work teams are not seated together or even in the same office.
Despite all the arguments presented, the Commissioner informed me that the CRA would move forward with this policy change and would therefore follow the Treasury Board directive. I then informed him that our union was in total disagreement with his decision and that we would denounce it vigorously.
This morning, the Commissioner sent a message to all Agency employees confirming that the CRA is moving forward with increasing mandatory on-site presence to four days per week during the month of July. To be clear, this change should not be implemented before Monday, July 27, 2026. The message also confirms what we have been denouncing from the beginning: this decision will be applied unevenly, depending on the capacity of offices, regions and branches.
This shows that the July 6 date announced by the federal government simply could not be applied uniformly across the CRA. Despite this, the Agency is still choosing to move forward with an ill-advised, improvised decision that is not based on any evidence.
Let us be clear: This decision is simply unacceptable and indefensible.
Indeed, the employer has not demonstrated that this will improve employee productivity or the quality of services provided to the public. Quite the opposite. The employer is showing complete disregard for the serious and very concrete concerns raised not only by our members, but by an overwhelming majority of CRA employees, whether unionized or not.
From the beginning, we have said that this decision is political and improvised. The facts prove us right. More than one third of the buildings currently occupied by the CRA do not have the necessary space to accommodate employees four days per week. Several other offices are already at the limit of their capacity. In many workplaces, employees already have difficulty finding an adequate workstation, sitting with their team, working in an environment conducive to concentration, or holding confidential conversations with taxpayers.
With this decision, CRA employees are facing a real lottery. If your workplace does not have the necessary space, equipment or furniture, then you will win the CRA lottery, and the application of the new requirement will be postponed, and you will receive an exemption. On the other hand, if your workplace can accommodate you four days per week, then you will lose the CRA lottery and will be forced to report to the office more often to comply with the new requirement. This is not a serious or coherent policy. It is a very flexible application of a decision that was already ill-advised.
It is also important to remember that the CRA is a separate employer. It is not required to blindly follow every Treasury Board directive. Yet once again, the Agency appears to be aligning itself with a political decision that does not take into account its own operational reality or that of its employees.
Moreover, the Agency and the federal government seem quite comfortable spending taxpayers’ money freely to lease new office space or acquire buildings, and to purchase furniture and equipment at exorbitant costs. And all of this to force employees to make long and burdensome commutes, while unnecessarily increasing traffic or the number of public transit users, just so they can come to “collaborate” at the office. Apart from downtown businesses and the mayors of those cities, no one else benefits from this.
Our message to the employer remains the same: instead of imposing this four-day-per-week mandatory on-site presence to the office, the CRA should postpone this decision until further notice and rather negotiate seriously with our bargaining team. Telework is one of our members’ main demands and must be negotiated at the bargaining table, not imposed unilaterally.
This issue adds to an already difficult round of bargaining, in which the CRA still refuses to seriously discuss our priorities, including telework, work-life balance, protections related to artificial intelligence, and fair wage increases.
Our members deserve better than improvisation. They deserve respect, transparency, and an employer that truly listens to their concerns. They also deserve to have their working conditions negotiated at the bargaining table, not imposed unilaterally.
We will continue to challenge this mandate, and we will continue to defend our members’ rights and demands.
At this time, we invite all our members to contact their federal Member of Parliament, regardless of political party, to denounce this decision and make their dissatisfaction heard. The summer period is ideal for this, as the House of Commons will be adjourned and MPs will return to their ridings. This is the perfect time to speak with them.
Make your voice heard: click here or scroll to the bottom of the page to find your MP using your postal code.
We will keep you informed of any new developments in this matter.
We invite you to remain mobilized, to consult UTE communications, and to contact one of your local representatives if you have any questions or concerns.
In solidarity,
Marc Brière
National President
Union of Taxation Employees