Canadians Prefer To Work From Home: POLL

Published 07/29/2025 · Updated 07/30/2025

With a majority of Fortune 100 companies now requiring desk workers to be fully in office, and major banking institutions like TD, RBC, and BMO upping the required days in office, a faceoff is setting up among workers who evidently prefer to stay at home, and employers who want them back on site.

New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds three-in-five Canadians (59%) saying they would prefer to spend the majority of their working time at home if it were possible. While this isn’t an option for many, those who’ve experienced it in the past clearly have an affinity. Among those who have worked from home in the past or are currently, the number who prefer most of their time in the home office jumps to three-quarters (76%). Technology, knowledge economy and financial workers, many of the so-called white-collar workers who are under increasing pressure to return are also much more likely to say they would rather not. Seven-in-10 (68%) say they would rather work from home most of the time, and just nine per cent show a preference for full-time, on-site work.

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This is a poll from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute. To link to the poll, click here.

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Among those who have been asked to return, sentiments are divided, and compliance is hardly uniform.

While most who have worked from home say they weren’t asked to return to work or increase the number of days on-site (65%), of those who were asked, seven-in-10 (72%) say they went back and followed the policy. Five per cent say they quit, while one-quarter (23%) agreed to the request, but admit that they often spend fewer days than required in office – an issue federal government departments have noted in recent months.

Those who remain entrenched at home, however, are much more resistant to a return to office. Just three-in-10 (28%) say that if they were asked by their current employer to return that they would do so without any complications. The largest group (32%) say they would return but start considering other options, while one-quarter (24%) say they would likely quit outright.

More Key Findings:

Those who did return are far from pleased. Indeed, one-quarter say they’re “very upset” (27%) while a similar number are “upset” (24%) about a return to office. One-in-three (32%) say it made no real difference to them, while 17 per cent were pleased.
Working age Canadians, regardless of whether they are working from home currently, say the biggest perceived benefits would be not having to commute (78%) and improved mental health (49%). One-quarter of those with children at home (27%) say savings in childcare would be a benefit.
Of those who have worked from home, the biggest challenges have been social isolation (30%) and disconnection from co-workers (30%). Young women are more likely to say they felt isolated (43%).
More than half of Canadians younger than 65 (57%) say they believe workers are just as, if not more, productive at home compared to on site. Among those with experience working from home this is overwhelmingly the view (73%).
Half of working age Canadians now say they have worked from home at some point (51%) with 29 per cent saying they are currently doing this.