With both the Fraser Institute, and the Green Parties Sonia Furstenau, talking a 4-day work week, how soon might it happen?

Canadians could enjoy a four-day work week—and actually work fewer hours—without giving up income or sacrificing their living standards if worker productivity increases by two per cent per year for the next decade, finds a new study by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

“In light of the COVID lockdown, there’s been a lot of talk about a possible four-day work week in Canada, but to achieve a four-day work week where we actually work fewer hours while at the same time maintaining our current living standards, we need to be more productive,” said Steven Globerman, a Fraser Institute senior fellow and author of Reducing the Workweek Through Improved Productivity.

Yesterday, when I asked BC Green Party interim leader Adam Olsen, about the study, he stated that while he’d only just had a chance to read through it for the first time, and that he’d need time to digest and get advice from their policy team, he felt the conclusion (of the study) landed very positively.

According to the Fraser Institute, the study finds that if worker productivity grew by two per cent per year from 2018 to 2030, Canadians could work four days per week—and not just longer works days—with no loss of living standards.

It went on to say that with two per cent productivity growth per year, workers would even enjoy an inflation-adjusted cumulative 1.5 per cent increase in income.

But is a two per cent annual productivity increase possible?

The study shows that from 2010 to 2016, productivity in Canada increased by 1.05 per cent per year, but looking back through recent history, two per cent annual productivity growth rates were common in earlier decades.

“If governments pursue policies that encourage entrepreneurship and innovation, worker productivity will rise and Canadians will be able to enjoy more leisure time,” Globerman said.

Looking at the concluding comments (page 11) of the “Reducing the Workweek Through Improved Productivity, it states (in part) that:

... workers obviously want both higher real incomes and increased leisure. The goal of working a 4-day work week while continuing to enjoy substantial increases in real standards of living is both reasonable and realistic. The key to achieving it is for the economy to produce a faster rate of productivity growth in the years ahead than has been realized in recent years ... 

And that seems to be a fit, with a caveat, for Olsen who stated:

“I prefer this characterization of “reasonable” and “realistic” -- provided we look at policy that addresses labour productivity issues -- that have been flagging in recent years in Canada/BC/North America”.

Green Party leadership
candidate Sonia Furstenau

And for Green Party leadership candidate Sonia Furstenau?  The move to a four-day work week needs to happen sooner, rather than the suggested ten-year time frame put forward by the Fraser Institute.

“I disagree”, she stated. “Companies and organizations, that have already shifted, have found that productivity and employee happiness go up ... sick days go down ... workers spend time more wisely ... stress levels lower”.

She continued, “There is nothing sacrosanct about a 5-day work week. It was widely established in the early 1900s in the context of factory work. The nature of work and technology has changed. We are now well into the 21st century; it is long past time to modernize our work practices”.

“To move this idea forward in BC, development of the 4-day work week concept must be done in consultation with labour, businesses and other experts. It's the kind of innovative idea that should be explored in our COVID-19 recovery”, Furstenau concluded.

With Furstenau raising the idea a few weeks back – and now this latest report from the Fraser Institute, is it possible BC workers might in fact be headed to a four-day work week ... and sooner than later?

All I can say is I’m surprised to see the Fraser Institute, and the Green Party, on a line which might just merge – which means sooner than later is a distinct possibility.


Are you an employee ... are you an employer ... what do you think about the idea?  Post your comments below.