February 9, 2022
Hon. Doug Schweitzer
Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation
425 Legislature Building
10800 – 97 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
T5K 2B6
Re: March 1st Removal of the Mandatory Work-from-Home Order
On behalf of the Building Owners and Managers Associations (BOMA) of Calgary and Edmonton, NAIOP
Calgary, and NAIOP Edmonton, we are writing to express our support for the Government of Alberta’s plan to
remove the provincial work-from-home order, effective March 1st and conditional on hospitalizations trending
downwards. We also want to thank the government for engaging with our associations on this topic over the
past few months, recognizing that this level of consultation is crucial to developing sound policy.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic we have acknowledged and supported the unprecedented public health
orders in place as necessary to protect Albertans. However it must also be acknowledged that these
restrictions have put a severe strain on businesses of all types. The long-term growth and success of many
businesses relies on the face-to-face collaboration enabled by being in the office, and we are confident that
the lifting on the work-from-home order will provide those businesses with the tools to safely bring back their
employees. We have also seen the impact of the low physical occupancy in Alberta’s major downtowns on the
many businesses that rely on office workers. The services, restaurants, and retailers in our downtowns have
suffered greatly over the past two years, and the removal of this order is a significant step in supporting them.
While the economic benefits of a return to the office are clear, over the past two years building management
and ownership, tenants, and service providers have all implemented stringent safety measures that continue
to ensure the office environment is safe. This has included deep cleaning, sanitization, distancing, testing,
vaccine mandates, and masking. So while we believe the time is right to begin returning to the office, there
continues a strong focus on safety within the buildings for all who enter.
Our associations believe that as hospitalization trends downwards and we shift to a new, less restrictive
approach to managing COVID-19, the office sector is fully prepared to safely welcome back employees to
their workspaces
Sincerely,
BOMA Edmonton, BOMA Calgary, NAIOP Edmonton, NAIOP Calgary