[Admiral Beez]

My partner is Gen X, he's given up on dressing up like a million dollars for work. They forced him back to the office two days a week to the new office building way the hell out in an industrial wasteland by the airport. He's grumpy on office work days. He gets so stressed out driving. He used to just take the TTC/Go Bus into the downtown. Now he has no choice, he has to drive.

I feel you. My first job out of uni in 1996 was at Derry and Airport Road. It was in freight forwarding and I was making $26k, renting a basement apartment on the Danforth for $700/month so could not afford a car. I was stuck on the GoBus, even though there was a GoTrain right next to the office. But now the GoTrain runs regularly in both directions to the Malton station, with frequent local bus service. And there’s also the UPE. That might get your partner close enough?

https://www.mississauga.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/03/31133709/MT-SystemMap_Apr28_2025_Weekday_Web.pdf

 

[Jonny5]

An executive where I work had this to say:

Word on the street is 4 days a week in office will still mean 3 days in practice.
[large financial institution name redacted] does not have enough desks if Everyone comes to the office on the same day.

And, yes, they can find more space but that's going to take more time than they have set for their deadlines. It's difficult to lease a vacant office space and move in three months from now, and even six can be a stretch if it's completely empty and you must build from scratch, so they are relying heavily on people travelling and taking vacation time to juggle it, but they really want the precedent set as quickly as possible.,

 

[Jonny5]

My partner is Gen X, he's given up on dressing up like a million dollars for work. They forced him back to the office two days a week to the new office building way the hell out in a industrial wasteland by the airport. He's grumpy on office work days. He gets so stressed out driving. He used to just take the TTC/Go Bus into the downtown. Now he has no choice, he has to drive.

I've heard before that can sometimes be a deliberate strategy to get employees to voluntarily quit so they don't have to pay out severance.

My father worked at Yonge and College for many years and then one day they announced they were moving the office to Sheppard and Victoria Park. It was whispered around the water cooler that it was a backdoor way to cut headcount as many people did end up leaving since their commute would be too far and too long.

There are some rules about this which I can't find right now, but in general they don't take into consideration actual commuting times at all, only the direct linear distance "as the crow flies" between the old and new locations, which in this city means you can dump a lot of staff at no cost by pulling off this trick.
Thankfully for my father, he was only a year out from retirement at the time, so he grinned and bared the commute seeing the finish line ahead.

 

[Mihairokov]

That's my worst nightmare, having to work in a suburban wasteland.

I did this for a short-term contract and had to commute from downtown to Scarborough. The only upside was commuting against the rush - the downside was everything else.

 

[tripwire]

RTO is a joke for my development team; they are much less productive in the office because of the noise, and then scurrying to find a meeting room because they mostly work with the Montreal and Windsor office. Fortunately our department is small enough that we got carved a small section of the office, and we can sort of self-assign seats within us, and so scrambling to find a seat is less of an issue for us. Although sometimes we have overflow of people from other departments and then it becomes a mess. So not only are my guys less productive, most of them have to go through 1hr commute one-way. What a waste of their time.

Just bizarre because productivity either stayed the same or actually went up during WFH, so RTO is just a farce.

 

[picard102]

There are some rules about this which I can't find right now, but in general they don't take into consideration actual commuting times at all, only the direct linear distance "as the crow flies" between the old and new locations, which in this city means you can dump a lot of staff at no cost by pulling off this trick.

They have to give you ample notice, otherwise it can be considered constructive dismissal.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I've heard before that can sometimes be a deliberate strategy to get employees to voluntarily quit so they don't have to pay out severance.

My pal’s employer is hiring and he’s been told to focus on suitable applicants that reside near the office. The goal, I think is to facilitate full time RTO and retention by reducing complaints or resentment of long commuting.

 

[Jonny5]

My pal’s employer is hiring and he’s been told to focus on suitable applicants that reside near the office. The goal, I think is to facilitate full time RTO and retention by reducing complaints or resentment of long commuting.

Heh. That's not even new. I had a manager around ten years ago who has since retired, and when we were hiring for a new position and looking at the resumes she openly said "I won't hire someone who has to rely on a GO Train to get to the office" (which was at King and University). So resumes of qualified candidates with an address in say, places like Milton, Burlington, Pickering, or Newmarket went straight into the trash.

EDIT: Though I note now, HR has updated their practices to remove any address information on a resume sent to a hiring manager. Though you can still ask "where do you live" if you get a live interview.

 

[afransen]

Heh. That's not even new. I had a manager around ten years ago who has since retired, and when we were hiring for a new position and looking at the resumes she openly said "I won't hire someone who has to rely on a GO Train to get to the office" (which was at King and University). So resumes of qualified candidates with an address in say, places like Milton, Burlington, Pickering, or Newmarket went straight into the trash.

EDIT: Though I note now, HR has updated their practices to remove any address information on a resume sent to a hiring manager. Though you can still ask "where do you live" if you get a live interview.

I remember finishing university and applying for jobs some distance away. I was asked by recruiters multiple times where I live, and I would make it clear my intent was to move to wherever I got a job. They would still ask 2-3 times.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Location matters. I used to work for a big Corp above the Lawrence subway station. It was a shite job, but the location was great. During the Northeast blackout of 2003 I was able to walk home to Cabbagetown, thankfully downhill.

 

[Jonny5]

Rogers has announced corporate employees will go to four days per week starting in October, and then five days per week in February.

Rogers asks employees to work in the office full-time

TORONTO - Rogers Communications Inc. is joining a growing list of companies asking its employees to return to the office.

www.thestar.com

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

Is it time for a major new Toronto office development?

UPDATED WITH OXFORD COMMENT: Toronto’s office availability rate is at 20.1%, and leasing rates have softened during 2025. But Avison Young's Q2 2025 office market report notes conditions might soon be ripe for a major new downtown office tower.

renx.ca

 

[Northern Light]

Is it time for a major new Toronto office development?

UPDATED WITH OXFORD COMMENT: Toronto’s office availability rate is at 20.1%, and leasing rates have softened during 2025. But Avison Young's Q2 2025 office market report notes conditions might soon be ripe for a major new downtown office tower.

renx.ca

This was previously posted and discussed...........but this is updated to include Oxford's response to Renx's queries.

The response is pretty much pablum, but I will post it anyway.

 

[Northern Light]

Another big move on the return-to-office front:

Ontario Newsroom

news.ontario.ca

The province announcing everyone is back in the office full time by January '26.

Transit is going to be stretched thin at both the TTC level and more particularly GO if service isn't ramped up, substantially.

 

[christiesplits]

Another big move on the return-to-office front:

Ontario Newsroom

news.ontario.ca

Transit is going to be stretched thin at both the TTC level and more particularly GO if service isn't ramped up, substantially.

And just in time for the inevitable snowstorm delays. It's going to be a rocky few months of commuting.

My step-brother commutes from Burlington GO to Union three times a week and says it's already standing room only once you hit Clarkson.

I suspect a lot of parents will have issues finding childcare mid-year, as registrations typically take place over the summer.