Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said he will refocus the city's messaging regarding a campaign encouraging federal public servants to remain downtown after work.

The initiative is designed to reduce traffic congestion as federal employees return to their offices. However, the plan has faced significant criticism from the workers it targets, who argue the current expectations leave them with no practical time to spend in the city after their shifts end.

The "come and stay" campaign is part of a broader traffic management strategy intended for the fall of 2026 [2]. City officials said that by encouraging employees to visit local businesses, or engage in leisure activities, before commuting home, the city can flatten the peak traffic surge that occurs during the evening rush hour.

Public servants expressed frustration with the messaging, suggesting that the city's request for them to stay late is unrealistic given their professional obligations and personal schedules. The backlash centered on the perceived disconnect between the city's goals for downtown revitalization and the actual daily experience of government employees.

Sutcliffe said the city will clarify how the plan is communicated to the public. The mayor said that the goal is to support the downtown core while acknowledging the logistical challenges faced by the workforce.

This effort comes as Ottawa continues to navigate the shift back to in-person work after years of remote and hybrid models. The city is attempting to balance the economic needs of downtown businesses with the infrastructure limitations of the road network. By attempting to shift the timing of commutes, the city hopes to avoid total gridlock during the return-to-office transition [1], [2].

“Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said he will refocus the city's messaging regarding a campaign encouraging federal public servants to remain downtown after work.”

This conflict highlights the tension between municipal economic goals and the labor realities of the modern public sector. By asking employees to extend their stay downtown to solve a traffic problem, the city is essentially requesting a voluntary shift in personal time to mitigate infrastructure failures. The need for 'refocused messaging' suggests the city underestimated the friction caused by return-to-office mandates.