Canadians average more work-from-home days than any country, global survey finds

A person works from home in Princeton, Illinois, U.S., on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg)

Canadians average more remote workdays than workers anywhere else in the world, a global survey says.

Results of the survey published earlier this month by researchers at Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research suggest that Canadians work from home an average of 1.9 days per week. The survey included 16,000 people in 40 countries, but only respondents who are college or university graduates, so it is not representative of all workers. Researchers said they targeted this group “as they are more likely to work in positions that have the potential for some work from home.”

The U.K. ranked second behind Canada, followed closely by Finland, the U.S., Germany and China. Portugal, Hungary and the Netherlands were among the European countries that also ranked fairly high.

Results were categorized by country and by region, and researchers identified some general trends by region, though the results varied country to country.

They found that working from home was most common in predominantly English-speaking countries – Canada, the U.K., U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Ireland with respondents reporting they work remotely an average of 1.5 to two days a week.

The countries that ranked lowest for remote working are Greece, China, Japan and South Korea.

People with children more likely to use hybrid work models

The survey results also suggest that remote work had reduced substantially in 2023 from the previous year but has since stabilized in 2024-25.

Employees who were parents were found to be more likely to split their workdays between home and the office, while those who didn’t have children are more likely to work either in a completely remote or a completely onsite capacity, the survey report reads.

While the levels for men and women are similar around the world, the survey found women with children were found to have a slightly higher desire to work from home.

The survey was conducted through an online questionnaire provided to panels that were pre-recruited by market research company Bilendi across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa between November 2024 and February 2025.

Canadians say they prefer flexibility

An older survey conducted by the Public Service Alliance of Canada in October 2024 suggested that 81 per cent of Canadian respondents believed remote work was good for them and around 66 per cent said it boosted productivity.

“Remote work isn’t just convenient, it’s common sense,” the report reads.

Only 15 per cent of the respondents endorsed the idea of predominantly working on-site, the report says.

The survey, conducted online in partnership with spark*insights on behalf of a union that has been fighting for more remote work options, also found that respondents said remote work fostered creativity, passion, happiness and enthusiasm among the employees.

This was backed by previous Statistics Canada data that showed productivity in the federal public service increased during remote work by 4.5 per cent between 2019 and 2023.