Employees at the LCBO’s headquarters in downtown Toronto will not have to report for full-time, in-office work in January, Global News has learned, after the Crown corporation said it couldn’t find enough space.
In a December memo, obtained by Global News, the LCBO told employees that its current floor space at 100 Queen’s Quay E. “does not support full-time office work for all head office employees.”
“As a result, we will not be transitioning to five days in the office starting January 5, 2026,” the memo said. “All eligible corporate employees are required to continue working from our offices four days a week.”
In August, the province announced it would gradually begin bringing all public servants to the office, with everyone expected to be back five days per week by Jan. 5, 2026.
While the move was met with fury by many civil servants and unions representing public sector unions, it also triggered a government-wide review of office space to determine whether the province had the capacity to meet its own targets.
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“We are currently reviewing all government office space to identify if there are any space limitations to support the Ontario Public Service’s return to five days in the office, effective Jan. 5, 2026,” a spokesperson for the president of the Treasury Board told Global News in September.
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At the time, the Canadian Union of Public Employees insisted the government didn’t have enough room to house 60,000 civil servants.
“The real estate is not there, they have closed offices, they’ve sold off some of the real estate that they owned, they’ve stopped some of their leasing contracts,” Brett Geneau of CUPE said.
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“We can barely support the three days a week with our staff now.”
While the LCBO head office managed to transition to a four-day, in-person work week in October, the Crown corporation told employees it was forced to retrofit several floors in the building by adding work stations, removing underused workspaces and purchasing more microwaves and fridges for staff.
Shortly after, the government agency said it conducted a “space utilization study” to understand how the space was being used and whether it needed to make changes “to accommodate an increase in employee presence.”
Liberal parliamentary leader John Fraser said the lack of space at LCBO headquarters is emblematic of the government’s policy.
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“The premier didn’t do his homework when he mandated a full-time return to work,” Fraser said. “He was warned that there was not enough workspace, but proceeded anyway.
“There needs to be safe, functional places available for people to work in order for them to return full-time, and the LCBO appears to be taking that approach.”
As the LCBO prepares to install additional workspaces to handle the influx of employees, workers are being instructed to keep asking for permission to continue working from home at least one day per week.
“Please continue to submit and approve Alternate Work Arrangements (AWA) in Workday for in-office exceptions – an important step to ensure our reporting reflects compliance,” the LCBO said in the memo.
Neither the LCBO nor the Treasury Board responded to a request for comment in time for publication.
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