Rules for returning office workers: Book an elevator ride, wear a mask
Elevator queues, mandatory masks and staggered start times may await Toronto’s office workers when they start venturing back to North America’s second-largest financial centre.
These are among the measures Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd. is pursuing as the commercial property firm prepares for a “measured” return of workers to downtown buildings. The company is landlord to some of Canada’s largest banks as the owner of office towers such as TD Centre and RBC Centre.
“It’s going to be a gradual but steady climb back to normalcy,” Sal Iacono, Cadillac Fairview’s executive vice-president of operations, said in an interview.
Ontario has been easing restrictions on business as the COVID -19 pandemic finally eases.
Office workers should brace for numerous precautions to protect them and the public. Cadillac Fairview, owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, is just one of the city’s large landlords adopting new safety measures.
Elevators will have limits of four people and Cadillac Fairview plans to add thin antimicrobial film over the buttons. It’s looking to introduce digital apps so people can schedule their elevator rides instead of waiting in line, Iacono said, “so that you know with certainty that you’re not going to have to wait a long time in order to be able to access your floors.”
The company is also working with tenants on ways to stagger start and end times for employees to avoid crowding in lobbies and common areas.
“In order to be able to allow the maximum number of people to come into those office buildings, we’re going to have to change our behaviours for a period of time,” Iacono said.
Building occupants at Cadillac Fairview office properties will be required to wear non-medical face masks or coverings in elevators and they’ll be “strongly encouraged” to wear them in common areas, including the underground PATH network that links downtown office buildings.