The Bank of Canada will allow employees to work remotely 50% of the time once public health guidelines allow it to fully reopen its offices.
A limited number of staff are currently working in the central bank’s offices in Ottawa. The COVID-19 pandemic has eased in Canada, with vaccinations rising and cases dropping, so the bank expects to bring back many employees this fall.
However, the central bank says it doesn’t see a return to normal conditions until 2022.
Financial institutions across Canada have been slow to issue return-to-office plans after the country’s main banking hub of Toronto experienced one of the longest lockdowns in North America.
This week, Canada hit a milestone with more than 50% of its population fully vaccinated against COVID-19, surpassing the U.S. vaccination rate. That’s allowed most provinces to relax restrictions and boosted confidence that businesses will soon be able to return to more normal operations.
As firms reopen, they face decisions on how quickly to bring back workers and whether to allow hybrid arrangements such as the Bank of Canada’s plan.
