TD will require its executive-level employees to work from the office four days a week beginning Oct. 6, the bank said in a memo Wednesday. The bank’s non-executive employees are expected to follow Nov. 3.

“We’ve seen that when we work together in person, we collaborate more effectively, make better decisions more quickly, learn from each other, and deliver stronger outcomes,” Melanie Burns, TD’s chief human resources officer, wrote in the memo.

The move puts Canada’s largest lenders closer to lock-step on office returns by fall. Royal Bank of Canada announced in May that it wants employees who are not remote full-time to work from the office four days a week starting Sept. 15.

Scotiabank in June asked Toronto-area employees who work in locations with “real estate capacity” to begin coming into the office “4+ days per week,” also Sept. 15.

And BMO, later in June, set a Sept. 15 start date for its four-day-a-week, in-office requirement, depending on real estate capacity.  

The return-to-office mandates have set off a scramble of sorts for workspace among employees at banks’ corporate locations. 

Some employees interviewed by The Globe and Mail said they feel they have to get to the office before 7 a.m. to secure a desk. Some who arrive at 9 a.m. or later have said they are unable to book a desk or are pushed into meeting rooms or the cafeteria. And some employees are working at desks that do not have monitors, a computer mouse or a keyboard, four sources told the publication.

Like Scotiabank and BMO before it, TD is taking office space into account in its mandate.

“Many locations will be ready to accommodate this change by November 3. Others will take us some time,” Burns wrote.

Some employees may receive separate instructions in the coming weeks, containing different timelines, she added.

Scotiabank did much the same, The Globe and Mail reported, citing a source who said the lender sent a follow-up memo to certain teams for which the four-day-a-week, in-office requirement would not apply until the bank secured more workspace. 

“In September, some of our teams who have the space to do so will increase the number of days they work onsite to four days, and others who are currently constrained by real estate availability will evolve to work onsite more as space allows it, with the goal of reaching four days onsite overtime across the bank,” Scotiabank spokesperson Katie Raskina said in a statement.

Likewise, RBC spokesperson Gillian McArdle said in a statement that the bank is “working closely with teams that may have real estate capacity issues to understand their needs and determine potential solutions.”

TD’s announcement, though, spurred online speculation as to when one of Canada’s big-bank holdouts will fall in line.

“Wonder when CIBC will make the announcement,” one Redditor posted to a thread Wednesday, referencing the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the nation’s fifth-largest lender.

“The day after they announce their new building is ready to move into,” another Redditor replied.

CIBC did not comment to The Globe and Mail on whether it plans an in-office mandate. For one, the bank is in the midst of a leadership change, with CEO Victor Dodig slated to step down Oct. 31.

“We continue to have the space needed for our team and our model is working as evidenced by our business momentum and strong employee feedback,” CIBC spokesperson Tom Wallis said in a statement.

The bank did say, however, that it plans to move into its second corporate tower at CIBC Square in Toronto, beginning next year.

A clampdown on office attendance isn’t exclusive to Canadian banks. JPMorgan Chase in January told employees companywide to return to the office five days a week starting in March.

BNY in April called its employees back to the office four days a week starting in September – but with a caveat that the bank did not intend to push the mandate further.

“We have no plans to return to 5 days in office unless circumstances were to demand otherwise,” BNY said at the time.

Citi, however, has gone against the grain, allowing its hybrid employees to work remotely for two weeks of their choice in August.

TD, in its memo Wednesday, also attempted to err toward flexibility.

“If from time to time you need additional flexibility to work from home, please check with your people manager and we will work with you to support your needs,” Burns wrote. 

But the overall message remained that the office-return mandate is a business decision.

“TD has made strong progress over the last several months and there is clear momentum in our business as we advance an ambitious agenda,” Burns wrote. 

As for the tussle for office space, predictably, newer workspaces such as CIBC Square have much less availability – 0.5%, according to data from the real-estate firm CoStar – than older buildings. CIBC’s old headquarters, for example, saw 28.3% availability as of mid-July, according to The Globe and Mail.

“The challenge is, if you’re the fifth or the sixth bank to announce a return to the office four days a week, most of the best quality space for your employees will be spoken for at that point,” Nicholas Kendrew, a senior vice president for Colliers Canada, told the publication. “Then it’s a case of working with what’s left over.”