Two federal public service unions say more and more employees are being denied requests for accommodations to work remotely, particularly for medical reasons, and are accusing the government of being unreasonable.
Marc Brière, president of the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE), said he’s been hearing increasing complaints from members who have been denied permission to work from home, including employees with anxiety who are being forced to work in open-plan offices and others who suffer from incontinence.
“Until they have incidents in the office — then they let them work from home,” Brière said, describing the current permission process as “a mess.”
The president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), Sean O’Reilly, agreed, saying some requests are being denied for reasons that don’t seem to make sense.
Sancho Angulo, co-chair of an interdepartmental support group for public servants with various forms of neurodiversity such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia, was hesitant to draw conclusions due to a lack of data, but said some employees have reported difficulties in getting accommodations approved or implemented quickly and satisfactorily.
In a statement to Radio-Canada, he wrote it’s sometimes not so much a matter of outright refusal as delays in partial implementation, a misunderstanding of needs or disagreement about what’s reasonable and effective.
Angulo’s group, the Infinity network, was created in 2023 and has more than 3,700 members working in about 100 federal departments and agencies.
Increase in requests
Radio-Canada asked 10 government departments for data on the number of accommodation requests made, accepted and rejected. Because the departments use different methodologies, it’s not possible to confirm an increase in refusals.
Several departments have seen significant increases in requests, however.
At Employment and Social Development Canada, requests rose from 50 in 2021 to 7,267 in 2025. Of these, 4,114 requests for medical accommodations were related to teleworking or hybrid work.
Some government departments and agencies including Health Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency don’t compile data on accommodations.
Federal guidelines for managers specify that “the duty to accommodate is not about employee preferences.”
Instead, the government says it’s about eliminating discriminatory barriers based on 13 grounds identified by the Canadian Human Rights Act, namely race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family status, disability, genetic characteristics, and a conviction for which a pardon has been granted or a record suspended.
Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) spokesperson Rola Salem said whenever reasonable, managers should have proactive discussions with employees to find solutions without requiring a formal accommodation request.
But Angulo said there is a lack of consistency in how requests are handled, and can vary considerably depending on the team, the manager or the department.
Some public servants feel their supervisors have taken a thoughtful and collaborative approach, while others report delays, unclear expectations, repeated requests for medical information and difficulty understanding what support measures are available.
Charles Tremblay Potvin, a professor in the Faculty of Law at Université Laval, points out that the criteria for determining whether an accommodation is “reasonable” are somewhat imprecise.
Tremblay Potvin said decision makers are given considerable leeway to decide what’s reasonable given the specifics of each case.
In the event an accommodation is refused, he said the employer must demonstrate they’re under constraints.
Tremblay Potvin said an employer can be obligated to accommodate a wide range of situations after a 2000 Supreme Court of Canada decision that interpreted the concept of disability to include health conditions like burnout and addiction.
Return-to-office requirements
Brière said he believes the government has hardened its stance in recent months and seems to be discouraging employees from requesting accommodations.
He said members who were granted accommodations before the COVID-19 pandemic are now being refused the same arrangements, even if their health situation has stayed the same.
Brière said some are being asked to provide new doctor’s notes and to restart the assessment process, which can drag on for several months. He believes some public servants may be tempted to leave the government or take sick leave as a result.
O’Reilly said some managers seem to be weighing the latest return-to-office rules when assessing accommodation requests.
This puts extra pressure on public servants who are being required to return to the office four days each week starting in July or who risk losing their jobs as a result of the spending cuts, he said.
The Treasury Board Secretariat says there have been no changes in government policies, and that accommodation requests continue to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
