IRCC gave up office space in January. Now, it can't accommodate RTO-4 -…
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada relinquished office space in January 2026, months before the federal government announced a return-to-office mandate requiring employees to work on-site four days per week. The department now lacks sufficient workspace to accommodate staff under the new policy, as reported by Yahoo News Canada.
The timing creates a logistical problem for IRCC, which processes immigration applications for Canada. The department reduced its physical footprint during a period when federal employees worked remotely or on hybrid schedules, only to face a directive months later mandating in-person attendance four days weekly. Other federal departments that maintained or expanded office capacity during the pandemic are better positioned to comply with the return-to-office requirement.
IRCC's space shortage affects employees across the department's operations, including those handling permanent residence applications, temporary residence permits, and citizenship processing. The department has not publicly disclosed how many employees lack assigned desks or how it plans to resolve the capacity gap. Federal buildings in Ottawa and regional offices that previously housed IRCC staff were either returned to Public Services and Procurement Canada or reassigned to other departments when the leases ended or space-sharing agreements changed.
The federal government announced the RTO-4 policy earlier in 2026, requiring most public servants to work from government offices four days per week starting in phases through the spring and summer. Departments were expected to implement the mandate by securing adequate workspace, adjusting schedules, or reconfiguring existing facilities to meet the increased demand for desks, meeting rooms, and common areas.
IRCC employees who process applications, conduct interviews, and manage case files now face uncertainty about where they will work under the new mandate. The department's January decision to reduce office space predated the RTO-4 announcement, leaving managers scrambling to find solutions that comply with the directive while maintaining service levels for immigration applicants.
The department must either negotiate new leases, reclaim space from other agencies, or implement staggered schedules that allow employees to share desks on different days. Each option carries costs or operational trade-offs that could affect processing times for applications already subject to backlogs in some categories.
Source: Google News (Canada immigration) — published 2026-05-25.