Making their way downtown
Employers take staggered approach to getting vaccinated employees in office
One year later, workers in Toronto’s downtown core are preparing to return to the office — again.
But this September, the return looks much different as the Delta-variantdriven fourth wave of COVID-19 casts a shadow of uncertainty over the next several months. Many of the district’s biggest employers are taking the return slowly, bringing employees back in voluntary stages. Many are requiring them to be vaccinated.
Jan De Silva, president and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, said her Tuesday morning ride into downtown Toronto felt different than it has over the past few weeks.
“Much, much more in the way of ridership,” she said. “We actually had people standing on the TTC.
“It’s nice to see downtown starting to get back on its feet,” De Silva said.
But she was quick to note that doesn’t mean things are back to normal.
“I think we’re at the start of a return,
but we still have a long way to go,” De Silva said.
Employers in Toronto’s downtown core are bringing workers back in phases and conducting pilot projects, De Sliva said.
“The mood at the moment is tentative.”
The main focus for employers right now is operationalizing mandatory vaccine policies, said De Silva.
Grant Humes, executive director of the Toronto Financial District BIA, said in an email that, anecdotally, the association has heard some of the area’s businesses are planning to bring workers back throughout the fall.
“Ultimately, organizations have to do what’s right for them in terms of timelines, so we’re likely to see businesses welcome workers back downtown over a staggered period of time,” Humes said.
He also noted that with more shops, restaurants and services opening back up in the downtown core, returning to the office is becoming more appealing for workers again.
In August, several companies told the Star they’re waiting to hear more from public health officials before making firm plans.
Research by the Strategic Regional Research Alliance (SSRA) showed that downtown occupancy saw an uptick in September 2020, followed by a downturn as the pandemic worsened again. The SRRA’s cofounder, Iain Dobson, told the Star last week he expects a much more cautious return to the offices this time around.
For commuters to Toronto’s downtown core, Metrolinx is back to full service this week in anticipation of riders returning, said spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins.
Some major employers have already announced that they’ll require in-person workers to be vaccinated, including TorontoDominion Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Bank of Montreal.
A spokesperson for law firm Gowling WLG said as of Sept. 27, all employees coming to work in person must be vaccinated.
The firm has a three-phase return plan, James Hatch said in an email, and its offices across Canada are in phases one and two. In Toronto, employees are welcome but not required to come in, he said.
KPMG is another firm that recently announced a similar policy, effective in October.
Caroline Van Hasselt, a spokesperson for KPMG in Canada, said the company is taking a phased and measured approach to its return to offices.
“In downtown Toronto, we are targeting the return of 10-20 per cent of our employees this month and will gradually lift that to 30-50 per cent in November, although these are not hard caps and will largely depend on a combination of business needs, personal preferences and how the fourth wave plays out,” she said.
De Silva said the Board of Trade is urging the provincial government to speed up implementation of its newly announced vaccine certificate, which she said could help businesses put in place their own vaccine mandates in a much simpler, swifter fashion.
“We need a consistent approach,” she said. “We need a standard, interoperable tool that everyone can access … If we let everyone build their own tool, that’s going to undermine confidence.”
Sun Life Financial spokesperson Nadine Jahangir Gerrard said the company has been piloting its office reopening throughout the summer, with a seating capacity of up to 10 per cent, though she said less than two per cent of employees have been working from the office as the program is voluntary.
Phase two will see the maximum capacity bumped up to 25 per cent this fall, Jahangir Gerrard said in an email. This will happen on or around Sept. 20, she said, but the company is monitoring the environment before confirming the exact date.
In response to the Delta variant driving case numbers up again, Jahangir Gerrard said Sun Life recently adjusted its work-from-office rules, now requiring in-person workers to attest to being fully vaccinated.
“This is in addition to existing safety measures we have in place, such as physical distancing, workspace bookings, assigned seating and mask requirements,” she said.
Rogers Communications, too, recently told employees they need to be vaccinated for the company’s anticipated October return to in-person work. Those who can’t or won’t will need to take rapid tests and wear masks, according to an Aug. 23 email sent to staff.
It seems likely that workers won’t be returning on a fulltime basis to many offices.
HSBC head of media relations Sharon Wilks said the company’s return-to-office dates will vary by location. In Toronto, HSBC’s new York Street office will be ready in January, she said, so other than workers who need to work in person, most of Toronto’s HSBC employees won’t return to the office until then. When they do so, it will likely be a staggered return, Wilks said.
“We’ll be taking that cautious approach,” she said.
The company is moving to hybrid working across the country, Wilks noted, so most employees won’t be in the office five days a week, something their employees largely support.
The details of a workplace vaccine policy are still being worked out, she added.
Some employers are being a little less specific about their return-to-office plans, at least publicly. A Scotiabank spokesperson directed the Star to a late-July post by chief human resources officer Barb Mason, which said the company’s return timeline will “reflect general society’s return to pre-pandemic activities, driven by vaccination rates and the impact of variants.”