Doerkson wants most BC government workers back in the office

Premier-designate Lorne Doerkson said on November 12 that he expects most of British Columbia's public service workers to return to their offices once he takes office, drawing an early response from the province's largest public sector union.

Doerkson, who will be sworn in on November 20, told reporters: "I'm committed to having people come back to the office." He said workers in areas with accessible government offices should plan on working in person, while leaving room for hybrid arrangements for those in rural parts of the province.

What Doerkson said

Doerkson made the comments on November 12 before confirming a date or a formal policy. A spokesperson told Victoria News that the specifics would be worked out after the swearing-in on November 20.

He drew a distinction between workers in cities and larger towns, whom he expects to return to offices, and those in remote communities without a nearby office. "I'm open to the notion that we might have a hybrid where we have people working in very rural spaces," he said, as reported by Victoria News.

No written policy has been released. The statement was a signal of direction from the premier-designate, not a binding government decision.

Who it affects

The BC General Employees Union represents 36,000 provincial public service workers. About one-third of those are frontline employees, such as corrections officers and liquor store staff, whose jobs already require them to be on-site. The remaining workers hold roles that have been done remotely, fully or in part, since the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped how government offices operate.

Under the outgoing NDP government, most BC public service workers could work from home up to two days a week. Some had additional flexibility through individual telework agreements, Victoria News reported.

The workforce covers a wide range of work. Social workers, highway maintenance planners, human resources staff, and policy analysts are among those who have worked with varying degrees of flexibility in recent years. The BCGEU represents workers in more than 300 job categories across the province.

The union's response

BCGEU president Paul Finch did not oppose rural hybrid arrangements outright. He raised a fiscal concern instead.

"There's a cost to having an office footprint with a larger percentage of the workforce coming in," Finch told CTV News. He pointed to return-to-work initiatives at the federal government and in Ontario as examples of moves that added to spending at a time when budgets were already tight.

British Columbia's provincial budget is under pressure. The outgoing NDP government had projected growing deficits, and the Conservative platform made cutting duplication and holding agencies accountable for results a stated priority.

What the platform says

The Conservative Party of BC platform, on pages 9 and 56, promises to restore merit-based hiring across the public sector and to end duplication in government while holding agencies to account for results. Neither commitment addresses remote work directly. The platform also says the government will work with the civil service to change its culture toward working with industry in good faith, on page 14.

No return-to-office commitment appears in the published platform. Doerkson's statement goes beyond what was written there.

The tracker at /bc/provincial-2026/tracker#gov-promise-merit-based-public-hiring follows the merit-hiring promise, and /bc/provincial-2026/tracker#gov-promise-end-duplication-accountable-agencies follows the accountability pledge.

What the platform promised vs. what Doerkson said

The platform put the cost of its governance changes at a net savings, without naming a figure for office costs. Finch's warning that expanding the office footprint would add to provincial spending is a direct challenge to that framing, though neither side has published a dollar figure.

Doerkson has not said whether the government would lease new office space, ask workers to return to existing space, or allow agencies to use their own buildings. Those decisions will shape the cost, and they have not been announced.

The BC government owns and leases office space across the province. Many workers moved out of those buildings during the pandemic, and some offices were reduced or consolidated. A large-scale return to in-person work would require that space to be available and ready, adding a logistical question to the fiscal one Finch raised.

The federal government's return-to-office policy, which Finch cited, took effect over several months and required federal departments to bring workers in for a minimum number of days per week. It drew pushback from federal unions and complaints about office capacity in some buildings. British Columbia's situation differs in scale: the federal civil service is far larger, but the question of whether office space and equipment can accommodate a fuller return applies here too.

What comes next

Doerkson is sworn in on November 20. His spokesperson has said the office-return policy will take shape after that date. BC residents who work for the provincial government, or whose family members do, can follow updates at /bc/provincial-2026/candidates/lorne-doerkson and at the promise tracker at /bc/provincial-2026/tracker.

Anyone employed by the BC public service and covered by the BCGEU can contact the union directly for updates on how any new policy may affect their own work arrangements.