Shared Services Canada ditches desk 'hoteling' for Ottawa-Gatineau employees in response to four-day return-to-office
New "neighbourhood model" in the National Capital Region will see department group teams together, shut down co-working locations and bring back assigned workstations.
By Ben Andrews, Ottawa Citizen
Published Apr 21, 2026 | Last updated 54 minutes ago
The federal government’s IT services department is moving away from desk “hoteling” in response to the four-day return-to-office mandate for public servants, according to an internal email obtained by the Ottawa Citizen.
In an email to staff on Monday, April 20, an executive with Shared Services Canada said the department is implementing a “neighbourhood model” in the National Capital Region that will group teams and directorates into specific areas within buildings, shut down satellite co-working locations and assign workers to stations while retaining some shared desks.
“The neighbourhood model will give us the chance to work more closely together while supporting consistent and efficient ways of working,” read the email, which was signed by assistant deputy minister Jacquie Manchevsky.
The new model is set to kick in on Sept. 8, about two months after the July 6 cutoff when most public servants are required to return to the office four days per week (up from three days). Executives are back on-site full time (up from four days a week) as of May 4.
As part of the changes at Shared Services Canada, the department’s operations and client services branch will scrap the use of Archibus, a software program for booking workstations.
The shift away from bookable shared workspaces — or hoteling — reverses an approach the government set in motion long before workers were sent home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the current hybrid work model, desk hoteling is widespread in government office buildings.
According to an Ottawa Citizen analysis of government data, at least 50 per cent of staff at nearly 40 departments and agencies in the core public administration did not have an assigned workspace in 2024.
Shared Services Canada ranked near the top, with 92 per cent of staff going without an assigned desk that year.
Last December, when rumours started swirling of a pending return-to-office mandate, some observers said they expected the rate of desk hoteling to drop if workers were brought back to the office full-time.
At least for Shared Services, that prediction appears to be coming true — much to the chagrin of many in the rank-and-file. IT professionals have been among the most vocal opponents of federal return-to-office mandates, arguing their jobs are easily done from home with no affect on productivity.
“I recognize that workplace transitions like this can bring a mix of emotions, and I want to thank you for your patience and understanding as these changes take shape,” Manchevsky wrote in the email to staff.
The internal announcement came shortly after Public Services and Procurement Canada, the federal government’s property manager, acknowledged that the government may be forced to acquire additional office space to accommodate employees on site four days each week, reversing a previous commitment to cutting the government’s building portfolio by half over a decade.
More than 1,000 workers at Shared Services have recently been told their jobs are at risk of being cut as part of the government’s ongoing efforts to slash thousands of public service jobs over the next several years.
Shared Services Canada did not provide comment by deadline.
https://ottawacitizen.com/public-service/desk-hoteling-shared-services-canada-return-to-office
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