96% of Canadians don’t want to stop working from home

A new study by the Angus Reid Institute has examined the willingness of Canadians to go back to their workplace after having been working from home during the pandemic. Among Canadians who’ve been working from home, an overwhelming majority (96%) would like to continue working from home on at least a semi-regular basis, including 36% who’d like to work from home full time. Just 4% of respondents say that they would like to stop working from home and go back to their workplace full time.

“It’s older Canadians who are more attached to their work from home life. At least 2 in 5 Canadians older than 54 say they prefer to work from home all the time. Comparatively, 27% of men and 31% of women aged 18 to 34 say the same. Instead, that age group is more likely to prefer a hybrid model split between the home and the office, with more leaning towards a bigger share at home.”

–Angus Reid Institute

The study also found that a majority of Canadians (56%) who’ve preferred working from home during the pandemic may start looking for another job if their employers required them to return to the office full time, including a quarter (23%) who would likely quit or look for another job right away.

“Younger Canadians are most likely to say they would quit immediately. 29% of those aged 18- to 34-years-old say they would start looking for another job right away. Canadians aged 35- to 54-years-old are more likely to take a gradual approach — 39% say they’d return, but would start looking for another job at the same time.”

–Angus Reid Institute

Canadians working from home are more likely to want to continue doing so since the same question was asked last summer. In August 2021, 44% said they would look for a new job gradually or immediately if they were asked to return to the office full time, 12 points lower than when the question was asked this month (56%).

“Compared to the summer, women are much less willing to return to the office full time if their employer demanded it. In August, 43% said they would roll with it. Now, 28% say the same. For men, that figure has declined from 35% to 30%.”

— Angus Reid Institute

For the full list of results and methodology, please visit the Angus Reid Institute website.

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