Future of work

Key takeaways 

• Using two waves of the Future Mobility in Canada Survey, researchers found that respondents worked remotely an average of 1.8 days per week in 2021 and 1.3 days per week in 2023. Their preferred amount of telework also declined from 2021 to 2023, from 1.7 to 1.4 days per week.  

• Future telework patterns remain uncertain. This uncertainty affects not only how workplaces operate, but also people’s decisions about where to live, how to travel, and how to participate in their communities.  

• Because telework is still evolving, the authors recommend using scenario planning rather than assuming a single long-term future. 

Plain language summary 

This study examined how often Canadians teleworked during and after the pandemic as well as how much time they preferred to spend teleworking versus working in person. Using data from the Future Mobility in Canada Survey conducted in fall 2021 and again in fall 2023, researchers examined telework patterns in six Canadian cities: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, and Hamilton.  

Although telework increased rapidly during the pandemic, it declined quickly in the following years.

In 2021, people worked remotely an average of 1.8 days a week. By 2023, that number had dropped to 1.3 days a week. Overall, people preferred to work from home less often in 2023 than they did in 2021, with more respondents favouring hybrid schedules that included working from home only one or two days a week. Actual telework rates varied across the country, with Ottawa-Gatineau reporting the highest rates and Hamilton the lowest in both years.  

Telework patterns varied by respondents’ personal characteristics and occupations: 

• In both survey years, about half of respondents did not work from home at all. In addition, half said they preferred not to work from home.  

• Older workers were more likely to telework.  

• Women were also more likely to telework. However, this difference appears to reflect other factors, such as the occupations in which women are more likely to work.  

• In 2021, people with higher levels of education and higher incomes were more likely to telework. However, these differences had narrowed by 2023.  

• Telework rates were consistently higher in office, professional, management, and technical occupations than in other occupations. 

In 2021, telework was more common among people whose workplaces were in or near a city’s downtown core, raising concerns about reduced foot traffic for downtown businesses. By 2023, that pattern had weakened. However, those working in the downtown core continued to express a strong preference for telework.  

The study highlights how quickly telework patterns have changed in recent years and the difficulty of predicting their long-term effects on communities. The authors recommend planning for multiple possible futures rather than assuming current trends will continue. Labour market transitions can unfold slowly and are best understood when looked at over long time frames. Because telework influences where people choose to live and travel—and how downtowns function—it has implications for housing, transportation, and community planning.

Definitions 

Telework: Using technological tools to work from a different location than the employer’s worksite, such as working from home.

Why the results matter 

For most Canadians:  

Understanding the rate of telework and people’s interest in teleworking can yield insights into how workplaces are evolving.  

For employers:  

Understanding workers’ preferences for telework allows employers to consider employee priorities when setting expectations for remote and hybrid work. 

For policymakers and planners: 

It is important for policymakers and urban planners to understand changes to telework because it can affect where people are located and how they move through a community, potentially shifting demand for housing, offices, and transportation systems.