Welcome to another edition of The EC/ESS Roundup, a new newsletter specially curated to keep EC/ESS CAPE members up to speed with the latest news.
Read on to get CAPE updates and find out the latest on the fight against RTO, the Stop the Cuts campaign and how you can get involved in 2026/27 bargaining, and more!
“IS CARNEY’S RTO PLAN A SECRET HANDOUT TO BIG BANKS?”: NEW RTO CAMPAIGN LAUNCH REPORT BACK
After years of non-answers about RTO, CAPE National has uncovered an evidence trail that shows RTO is a $10 billion dollar handout to four record-profit Big Banks — CIBC, National Bank, BMO, and RBC — to protect them from bad office real estate bets.
That is why, on July 6, CAPE members and allies took this evidence directly to PM Carney’s office — in person and online — to demand the truth about RTO and build public support ahead of EC/ESS bargaining.
60 members and allies joined the July 6th event from CAPE, PSAC, and PIPSC. Every single major news outlet covered it. And many calls were made to the PM's office.
PM Carney and the Treasury Board heard members loud and clear: CAPE members will not accept unnecessary RTO — and the new campaign to uncover the truth about RTO is just getting started.
Watch and share the recap video of the July 6th event. All Canadians deserve to know how Carney is spending taxpayer money.
Read and share some of the articles about CAPE's July 6th event and the new campaign.
In a response to our event, Liberal MP Bruce Fanjoy, said to Global News, "I just think that the benefits of flexibility far outweigh any other alternative... I’m not afraid to let people know where I stand on this issue.” Stay tuned for more ways members like you can engage MPs to come out publicly for telework.
In commercial real estate news...
This week, the commercial real estate industry just said the part PM Carney is unwilling to say out loud: after years of lobbying and warnings about declining office values, RTO is now helping commercial office real estate rebound.
In other words: the government knew falling office demand was a risk for banks, which CAPE National has seen from an internal document we received. And now, in the same week RTO4 started, the real estate industry is saying forced office returns are helping that same market recover. That timing should raise serious questions. See articles here, here, and here.
CAPE National will keep following every credible lead and sharing what the government, commercial real estate, and banks are saying publicly — and what they are not.
RTO4 starting does not mean the fight is over.
It means the fight must broaden and grow — in workplaces, in Parliament, with Canadians, and with the Treasury Board in the lead-up to bargaining this fall. Every call, share, workplace conversation, and coworker brought into the campaign matters a lot this year.
CAPE National has heard members’ questions about the July 6 action, including its “Big Banks” framing. This is not partisan or political — we’re raising evidence-based questions, grounded in an internal government document CAPE received, about a terrible employer policy that rolls back measurable productivity and quality of life gains, and still has not been credibly explained to workers or the Canadian public.
A reminder of what we know so far about the potential real motivation for RTO:
- RTO was announced shortly after banks and commercial real estate interests lobbied federal regulators and finance-sector policymakers on OSFI rules, capital requirements, housing finance, mortgage underwriting, covered bonds, and lending policy while office-market risks due to telework were being raised publicly across the sector.
- The government knows office losses pose a risk to BMO, National Bank, CIBC, and RBC but has not spoken publicly about it. CAPE reviewed government analysis showing that falling office demand is being monitored internally as a risk tied to roughly $10 billion in combined office exposure at these banks.
- Before becoming Prime Minister, Carney held a top role at Brookfield Asset Management while Brookfield’s own investor filings and public statements warned that telework threatened office demand, occupancy, rents, and property values. That doesn’t prove motive, but, as a former banker, it makes Carney’s silence on commercial real estate risk impossible to ignore.
- The RTO math is not adding up. Workers and taxpayers are being asked to give up improved public service productivity and $40+B in potential office savings — for a policy CAPE believes helps protect roughly $10B in bank office exposure.
- The timeline is hard to ignore. As office-market pressures grew, Canada’s largest banks strengthened their own return-to-office requirements. Similar policies were then adopted by the Ontario government and, later, by the federal government.
STOP THE CUTS STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS
CAPE members are advocating to Stop the Cuts to important federal programs and services that will impact all Canadians. Many departments have been hard hit by WFA, but we have found clear patterns with healthcare, programs advancing reconciliation, and work on climate change and climate adaptation hardest hit.
CAPE staff and members have already met with allies, advocates and other unions focused on healthcare to bring federal cuts to light and to show our solidarity with major healthcare concerns from coast to coast, from privatization and the lack of enforcement of the Canada Health Act in Alberta, to stalled progress on pharmacare.
This campaign is just ramping up, and we will keep you updated as together we advocate for important federal programs in healthcare, reconciliation and the environment.
SUBMIT YOUR RESOLUTIONS
CAPE invites members to submit resolutions for consideration by the membership this fall.
Resolutions may focus on CAPE’s policies and practices. As outlined in CAPE’s constitution, members may submit resolutions to be voted on by the membership following the annual general meeting.
The period for member resolutions for the 2026 AGM is now open.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: MANDATE 2027-29
Are you interested in running for an elected position on the National Executive Committee? This is your opportunity to define the future of your union.
All 34 NEC positions are open for election for a three-year (3) term from January 1, 2027, to December 31, 2029.
LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR NOMINATION
TAKE IT TO THE TABLE:
Collective bargaining 2026-2027
Don’t forget to stay up to date with the latest bargaining information and next steps.
Collective Bargaining 2026: Big, Open, and Transparent
Next steps for 2026-2027 Bargaining
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