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The Great Return: Why Remote Work Is Fading for Many Canadians

  Over the past few years, remote work reshaped how Canadians lived and worked, offering flexibility, reduced commuting stress, and a better work–life balance. But that era is shifting. A growing number of employers across Canada are signalling that remote options—once seen as a permanent fixture—are gradually disappearing. Several factors are driving this change. Many companies argue that in‑person collaboration boosts creativity, strengthens team culture, and improves productivity. Some leaders also believe that physical presence helps with mentorship and career development, especially for younger employees who entered the workforce during the pandemic. Economic pressures are also playing a role. With businesses navigating uncertainty, some executives feel that having employees on‑site provides more oversight and operational stability. At the same time, commercial real estate vacancies have pushed organizations to make use of the office space they’re already paying for. For w...
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Canadian tech stocks expected to deliver healthy returns in 2024, RBC says


The Canadian technology sector had a stellar performance in 2023, outperforming the broader market and delivering the highest returns since 2020. However, RBC Dominion Securities analysts Paul Treiber and Maxim Matushansky believe that the sector still has room to grow in 2024, albeit at a more moderate pace.

In a report released on Thursday, the analysts said that they expect healthy returns to be more widespread across Canadian tech stocks in 2024 than 2023, driven by three main factors: 1) valuation multiples for many Canadian tech stocks may rise in 2024; 2) organic growth and profitability may improve through 2024; and 3) the Consolidators, such as Constellation Software, CGI Group and Open Text, are likely to continue to create shareholder value through acquisitions.

The analysts noted that the valuation of the average stock in their coverage universe is below historical averages and peer group averages, and that a decline in interest rates could boost the discounted cash flow valuation of the sector. They also pointed out that most of the companies in their coverage are expected to be profitable in 2024, and that some of them may see growth stabilization or improvement as the pandemic-related headwinds ease.

The analysts also highlighted the potential of the Consolidators, which are disciplined allocators of capital that tend to find value in out of favour companies and have the capital to deploy in periods of financial or economic duress. They said that while Constellation and OpenText deployed record amounts of capital on acquisitions in 2023, they expect the other consolidators to deploy more capital on acquisitions in 2024 than 2023.

The analysts’ top five Canadian technology ideas for 2024 are: Constellation Software, Shopify, Kinaxis, Open Text and Calian Group.

The report also covered some of the other analyst actions on Thursday, such as target price adjustments for stocks in the software and services, mining and energy sectors. Some of the notable changes include: RBC’s upgrade of Alamos Gold to “outperform” from “sector perform”; CIBC’s upgrade of Aritzia to “outperformer” from “neutral”; and JP Morgan’s increase of its target price for Canadian Natural Resources to $102 from $101.

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