Remote work may be billed as the future of work, but in Canada it’s in retreat. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows 790,000 fewer remote workers since 2022, while 1.5 million more became daily commuters. Policymakers have driven the shift to prop up big-city downtowns—leaving households to pay the price in both time and money.
Canadian Remote Work In Retreat: 790k Fewer Flexible Workers
Canadian workers by usual place of work. In percentage points.
Source: Statistics Canada; Better Dwelling.
Canadian remote work fell sharply—not just as a share, but in terms of actual headcount. Just 17.4% of workers were remote in May 2025, down from 22.4% in 2022, including a 1.3 percentage point decline in the past year. The headcount fell from 4.48 million in 2022 to 3.69 million in 2025—790,000 fewer remote workers. The aggressive clawback of pandemic-era flexibility has cost workers millions of hours in commuting.
Canada Adds 1.5 Million Commuters Who Lose An Hour Each Day (More If They Take Transit)
Canada’s army of commuters only grew with the clawback. The share of workers who commute to work hit 77.6% in May, up 2.6 points since 2020. Over that period the headcount of commuters climbed 1.45 million to 16.44 million. About 3 in 4 workers now lose nearly an hour each day, averaging 53.4 minutes per day commuting. Public transit users spend nearly two-thirds longer, averaging 88.2 minutes round-trip—the equivalent of nearly a full night’s sleep over a 5-day work week.
Hybrid Work: Canadian Employers Embrace The Worst of Both Worlds
Work from home is out, but the hybrid model (some days in office) is gaining steam. Hybrid workers climbed from 2.6% to 5.1% between 2022 and 2025, rising from 520,000 to 1.08 million. Nearly doubling its share over three years makes it the fastest-growing segment, but at just 1 in 20 workers it’s far from a paradigm shift.
Instead, hybrid leaves workers with the worst of both worlds: a few days at home, but still tethered to pricey urban cores. And that’s by design.
Remote Work A Boon For Small Cities—Its Unwinding May Reverse It
The reversal of work from home is part of a broader push to revive pricey downtown cores. Remote work during the pandemic let people keep big-city wages while moving to less expensive regions. Small towns and households both benefited, with families keeping more disposable income and spending it locally.
But this left office towers vacant and surrounding streets with far less traffic. After pressure from business associations, policymakers moved to undo those shifts and bring activity back to big cities. In doing so, they risk reversing the gains small towns made—and creating a net loss for households, as more income is drained by housing and commuting costs.