TORONTO (Reuters) -Canada's top health official Theresa Tam has warned that COVID-19 cases in the country could rise rapidly in the coming days, due to the community spread of the Omicron variant.
Concerns over the highly transmissible variant have spooked investors around the world and prompted companies to delay their return-to-office plans.
Here are the updated plans of Canadian banks and insurers' to bring staff back to office:
Bank of Nova Scotia: Scotiabank has paused plans to begin a phased return for its Toronto head-office employees from Jan. 17. When the return happens, it will be staggered for different groups and most head-office staff will follow a hybrid working model.
Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) Inc: Canada's second-biggest life insurer has paused its office re-opening pilot for more employees until the end of January.
The company has launched a flexible return-to-office approach for a majority of its 12,000 staffers in Canada, that will allow them to choose where to work from.
National Bank of Canada (OTC:NTIOF): Canada's sixth-biggest lender has asked employees to work remotely if possible.
Royal Bank of Canada: Most of the bank's 61,000 employees are working from home, but many have begun returning to offices or will do so over the coming weeks and months. Many of those will adopt a hybrid work model, working some days from home and some days in the office.
Each business group and region is determining the best work arrangements for them, and employees will receive at least four weeks' notice before they return to offices.
Toronto-Dominion Bank: The bank asked employees who are able to do so to work from home until further notice.
Bank of Montreal: Canada's fourth-largest bank has asked its investment bankers to go back to working from home until the week of Jan. 17, according to a Bloomberg News report https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-16/bank-of-montreal-asks-investment-bankers-to-work-from-home?sref=vEQJzSks.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce: Canada's fifth-largest lender has asked its staff in the country to work remotely and halted plans for a return to work location in January.
Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC): Canada's biggest life insurer has pushed its return-to-office date for employees in North America for the time being, according to a memo seen by Reuters. It had earlier planned Jan. 24 as its back to offices date in the U.S.
In addition, the banks and insurers have put in place mandatory vaccination policies https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canadas-major-banks-require-employees-entering-premises-be-vaccinated-2021-08-20 that employees will need to follow to return to their premises.