Hon. Scott Tannas: Honourable senators, my question is for Senator Gold.

In August, the Clerk of the Privy Council released the Twenty‑Ninth Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada. The report includes updated demographics of the federal public service, including gender and race statistics, as well as a breakdown of the number of public servants in each province. Notably, 42.2% of public servants live in the National Capital Region. This percentage is relatively unchanged over the last number of years.

My question for you, Senator Gold, is this: With the rise of more remote working — and we have heard that the government is working on a strategy for more remote working — does the government intend to have more public service jobs outside the National Capital Region?

Senator Tannas: Is the government satisfied with having 42.2% of its workforce located here in Ottawa?