The Covid-19 pandemic changed our lives. The limits between work and personal life got blurred like never before, and at least 40% of employees suffered from burnout. Workers and managers started seeking balance, and that’s how the idea of a 4-day work week took shape in companies around the world.

What is the situation in Canada? We are glad to say that several companies are trying this new modality. We talked with 4 Canadian companies that have a 4-day work week and this is what we found out.

David Suzuki Foundation, a pioneer amongst companies with a 4-day work week

“We are interconnected with nature, and with each other. What we do to the planet and its living creatures, we do to ourselves”. This fundamental truth guides the work of the David Suzuki Foundation. Founded in 1990, it is a national, bilingual non-profit organization headquartered in Vancouver, with offices in Toronto and Montreal. Through evidence-based research, education, and policy analysis, they work to conserve and protect the natural environment and help create a sustainable Canada.

But here comes the most shocking fact: the foundation has implemented a 4-day, 34-hour work week since it started, 32 years ago. This turns them into an absolute example to follow for companies with a 4-day work week in Canada. “Life isn’t about making more money so we can keep buying more stuff; it’s about having time to do things that enrich our lives”, they assure.

“Four-day workweeks are good for employers and employees, boosting employment levels and increasing performance and motivation. They’re also beneficial to health and well-being, resulting in cost savings from reduced sick time”, they explain. And they add: “reduced work hours, flexible schedules and telecommuting can also cut pollution and greenhouse gas emissions”.

They consider that “the pandemic has exposed flaws in our systems, but it’s provided opportunities to find better ways”, and they state: “We need to start thinking about what an economy can do for us, not what we must do for it”.

“Transforming work-life balance through a well-being lens can lead to significant health benefits, contribute to gender equality, improve work redistribution and have important environmental benefits. Rethinking how we work is crucial, and a four-day workweek, guaranteed sick days, minimum vacation time and greater flexibility are good steps toward making work better for people and the planet”, they conclude.

Mavtek is one of the companies in Canada with a 4-day work week — One of Mavtek’s employees taking advantage of the 4-day work week.

MavTek invents change as a 4-day work week company in Canada

MavTek is an e-commerce and digital content delivery platform designed to create elevated customer experiences based in Montreal. In 2020 they went fully remote, and in May of 2022 they became one of the companies with a 4-day work week in Canada.

“Our 4-day work week is intended to give everyone a dedicated day for wellness and the opportunity to give back to the team with time to focus on themselves. It is not a compressed work week or a reduced salary model, but a 32-hour week with every Friday a wellness day paid for by the company”, explains Cathy Tsolakos, Director of People Operations.

The change didn’t happen from one day to another. The company prepped by breaking down the time leading up to the 4-day work week trial into distinct phases, learning new collaborative techniques, and prioritizing their time.

The result is happier workers: “Everyone is happier for the opportunity to walk through a forest path, look out on a lake or just exhale and regroup after a couple of intense years of uncertainty and sacrifice. That’s not to say we all embraced the great outdoors. Dentist appointments, reno projects, new menu ideas, afternoon naps or simply spending time with friends and family have all become Friday staples”, they describe.

And it shows: MavTek social media feed showcases workers enjoying their Fridays. A recent father admits that the extra day off allowed him to become a more active participant in raising his son. Another employee expresses that he has become more mentally relaxed and focused, which helps him to advance in his career. Some others show up playing golf, taking trips, and enjoying the beach.

“Simply put, we’re disrupters, looking to shake things up and make this better. It’s even our slogan, Invent Change. So we’re taking charge, leading the way into the future of work where the focus is on doing work that matters and giving the team time to look after themselves. Introducing a 4-day work week approach is the right thing to do and now is the right time to do it”, MavTek sums up in their 4-day work week guidelines.

Canadian company with a 4-day work week: Produce 8 — Produce 8 used their own technology to optimize their 4-day work week. Photo credits: Produce 8 and Stocksy.

Produce 8, a company with 4-day work week keeping productivity on point

Produce 8 is a software development company based in Vancouver that provides teams with real-time visibility into the work getting done across all of their business applications. This year they also became one of the companies with a 4-day work week in Canada and they applied their own technology to optimize their time, in order to produce the same amount of work in fewer hours.

“We wanted to see how our technology usage habits and patterns were impacting our workdays and our productivity so we could start making some positive changes. And by learning how to work more efficiently in less time, we could ultimately work fewer hours over the long term”, they explain.

Now, their Fridays are “a new kind of day”: it’s not a weekday, but it’s not a weekend day either. It’s a focus day.

“Some Fridays I didn’t work at all. Some Fridays I worked 4 hours. And some Fridays I did a full 8. If you have stuff to do, it’s a great day to do it. But in general, you have the time to do the things you want to do without distractions”, noted one of their team members.

Being a company with a 4-day work week has certainly had an impact. One of their employees expressed that “the weekend now feels like a nice break”, while several team members said they noticed themselves looking forward to the week ahead more than ever before because they felt rested and ready to take it on. One team member even admitted they were feeling close to burnout before they began this pilot. But that feeling has gone away.

Of course, not everything has been rosy. Several team members admitted to feeling some anxiety around whether or not they’d done enough to take Friday off each week. “This created a self-driven productivity anxiety that we feel could be alleviated in the future by more solid metrics and KPIs—a work in progress for a pre-revenue startup like ours”, they explain.

Produce 8 continues on the path of consolidating as one of the companies with a 4-day work week in Canada, although people can still work 5 days if they find it’s better for them. “We have no strict rules about how many or which hours team members are required to work each week — but everyone is responsible for being online during our synchronous hours and being able to complete their core work”.

In October, they started collaborating with 4 Day Week Global, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to sharing the well-documented benefits of a shortened workweek and supporting companies that want to get involved.

Canadian company with a 4-day work week: The Leadership Agency

The Leadership Agency, a Canadian 4-day work week company born from resilience

The Leadership Agency is a Toronto-based company that helps startups find and hire best-in-class talent. Their CEO, Jamie Savage, is proud to say that they have been one of the first companies in Canada to launch a 4-day work week in October 2020, and explains why she took the chance.

“I think this story starts about 10 years ago. I was working on 100% commission, putting in an average of 80 hours a week and helping to build a multimillion-dollar company. All while, at the same time as I was thriving professionally, I was suffering personally. I was in an abusive relationship, and no one knew it. I had nowhere to turn, nowhere to feel safe, and my only outlet was my work. So, while to my bosses at the time, I was a dream employee - working the hardest and achieving the most – it was because I was running away from what was waiting for me at home. Eventually, I hit a breaking point”, she remembers.

“All I did was work and I was in a professional environment that thrived from my alienation by not creating a workplace culture that supported balance, mental wellbeing, and work life balance. Eventually, I stopped getting my menstrual cycle, continuously suffered from brain fog and crippling anxiety, and… Well, you get the point. It wasn't good”, she adds.

That’s when she quit her job and decided to create The Leadership Agency and do “the right thing for its people”, which eventually led to becoming one of the first companies with a 4-day work week in Canada.

“Nobody lost any salary or benefits or vacation time with the shift to a 4-day work week. We were embracing a shorter work week to help with stress levels, mental health, and work/life balance. We have since doubled revenue, grown internationally, have been certified Best Places To Work in Canada, and our productivity has increased… and we aren’t done yet. We have recently implemented a 3-week paid bereavement leave, 5 paid universal days, and a 6-month paid parental leave”, she describes. Impressive!

Finally, she leaves us with food for thought: “We all have a responsibility to create safe, inclusive, inspirational, and productive workplaces. Where our employees do their work, or on what days is irrelevant”.

What would Ralia Retreats' 4-day work week look like?

The number of companies with a 4-day work week in Canada is increasing and at Ralia Retreats we couldn’t be more thrilled! We are a growing business imagining our future in a world where the 4-day work week is the gold standard of time commitment to one company. This inspired our founder, Mya Pearle, to come up with a 4-day work week vision:

“Marisol happily starts her workday after enjoying the morning ritual she brags about when she shares it with friends. Her friends almost don’t believe she gets paid to meditate. Ralia Retreats is not a typical workplace, but Ralia Retreats is also not a typical company. It is a company of innovators and wellness professionals and everyone is expected to live well and innovate. A 4-day work week is our way of saying a resounding YES to prioritizing the wellness of the individual. Our idea is that 136 of the 168 hours in a week should be spent immersed in health-promoting activities, if possible, within one of the employees' communities. Now, if you don’t count the 8+ hours spent sleeping, give or take 78 hours a week are left to spend on awake-state (i.e. conscious) wellness. That leaves Marisol enough time in a week to cook a home cooked meal or two, exercise for an hour every day, relax, do art, listen to music for fun, connect with her husband for more than an hour a day, get her nails done, read a good book, and even watch a few shows. She gets to look like a goddess and feel rested and fit every day. Her everyday glow is supported by a live broadcast morning ritual or meditation and fitness and mental clarity exercises (that she sometimes catches on record as she needs) but that everyone in the company is excited to include in their workday - yes, even within the remaining 32 hours left to “work” Ralia Retreats employees are empowered to do a wellness journey together in community. Community is the greatest predictor of happiness and here at Ralia Retreats we are growing a healthy community of happy people who happen to make a lot of retreat magic happen too!”.

Ralia Retreats has team members from different countries. Are you part of a remote team? Check out our rituals to bond remote teams!

Have you ever thought about a business retreat for your team? Get more info here!

Let’s create a better work-life balance together, where wellbeing and sustainability become mantras to live by. It’s what the times call for and it’s the path we need to follow if we want to have a brighter future. We can do it!