Here's What's Actually Happening With The 4-Day Workweek In Ontario

A four-day workweek in Ontario may just sound like a joke at the moment, but many companies are quickly starting to make it a reality.

On Friday, blogTO attempted to pull their readers' legs by announcing that the Ontario government will mandate all businesses to switch to a four-day workweek by 2023. They later added an editor's note clarifying that the story was "written as a joke."

While the April Fools' gag got a lot of people talking, it's not the first time this conversation has arisen.

While there is currently no announcement slated by Ford's government to make this a reality, many businesses have already taken matters into their own hands.

Juno College of Technology announced back in 2021 that they would be switching to a four-day workweek, along with implementing a summer shutdown.

Back in April of 2021, Toronto roofing company Situra also made the shift to a shorter week and said that everyone has been more "relaxed" and "happy" because of it.

"The overall climate at work is just everybody is happy about this," Marketing Director Chauntelle Facey told Narcity.

Multiple other businesses across the province have also started to follow, with many employees now having a long weekend.

On top of this, the Liberal government also announced back in October 2021 that, if elected in June, they plan to launch a four-day workweek pilot in the province.

The pilot would enable employees to work the same number of hours over four days, as opposed to five.

Steven Del Duca, the leader of Ontario's Liberal Party, even doubled down on his promise on Friday, by tweeting, "Hey @blogTO, four-day work weeks won't be an April Fool's joke if you vote @OntLiberal to get rid of Doug Ford on June 2."

Narcity has reached out to the Ontario government for a statement but did not hear back before publication.

So, will four-day workweeks actually become a mandated thing for the province by 2023? Only time will tell.