Employees from various financial institutions will once again be pounding the pavement as they begin returning to their respective offices starting this week.

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada, the Bank of Montreal, Manulife Financial Corp. and Scotiabank are all planning to shift back to in-person work throughout March.

As of Mar. 14, 2022, Manulife’s fully vaccinated employees were able to voluntarily return to their physical workplaces in Waterloo, Ont., Toronto, Montreal and Halifax amid encouraging signs that the spread of the coronavirus pandemic is slowing across the country.

Read: U.S. remote workers split on whether they’re ready to return to office: survey

“From the start of the pandemic, the health and safety of our employees, customers, agents, partners and communities globally has been our priority,” said Cheryl Holmes, Manulife’s director of global external communications in Canada, in a statement to Benefits Canada. “All our return-to-office decisions are made in accordance with local health guidance in the communities in which we operate.”

Monday also marked Scotiabank employees’ official return to the office on a voluntary basis. Beginning April 11, the bank also plans to fully implement a 10-week gradual and phased re-entry into the office, with different teams returning on different dates, while continuing to monitor all changes to health and safety guidelines, said Barb Mason, group head and chief human resources officer, in a statement.

“The majority of employees will return to the workplace in a hybrid model. Recognizing that one size does not fit all, different groups will have different considerations regarding which activities should be conducted in person and which can be done virtually. We believe that by combining the best aspects of the physical and virtual workplaces, we will have a more collaborative workplace culture that allows us to better deliver for our customers while retaining and attracting top talent.”

Read: 57% of Canadian employers planning return to office by early 2022: survey

Starting the week of March 21, CIBC is planning to bring its Canadian team members who’ve been working remotely back to the organization’s new headquarters, said Sandy Sharman, the bank’s group head of people, culture and brand, in a statement. “Our priority continues to be the well-being of our team members, clients and communities. Since the pandemic began, we committed that decisions on returning to the office would be based on guidance from local governments and health agencies.”

According to Sharman, CIBC will also adopt a hybrid work arrangement for the majority of its Canadian employees who’ve been working remotely since the start of the pandemic. “Our hybrid model will allow our team to benefit from the flexibility and productivity that can be achieved from working remotely, while blending that with the benefits of in-person work with colleagues to further build culture and collaboration.”

And while some BMO employees returned to the office over the last year, given differences in business needs and local public health guidance, the timetable for a broader based return will differ by groups, teams and geographies, said the bank in a statement to Benefits Canada.

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