Petition: Bring the 4-Day Workweek to BC

A 4-day, 32-hour workweek with no pay cuts and no longer daily hours is a proven way to make workers healthier, happier, and more productive. It’s also the next step in the fight for fairness. For decades, working people have created record wealth, but the rewards have flowed disproportionately to corporations and the highest-income earners. Wages have stagnated, benefits have been cut, and time off has flatlined, even as productivity rose. This has culminated in a wealth gap and housing crisis that is driving British Columbians to other provinces in pursuit of more affordability and a better work/life balance.

BC needs this now. Since 2020, productivity has fallen, and for years, we’ve lagged behind other advanced economies. With rising US tariffs and growing global economic uncertainty, our province is even more vulnerable if we cling to the status quo. We’re losing ground in a world where skilled workers can choose where they want to live. The best talent is looking for more than just a paycheque, and working people are looking for more than just survival. Offering three-day weekends every week would help us work smarter instead of longer, give families more time for life outside of work, and make BC one of the most attractive places in the world to live and work.

Sign the petition to call on the BC government to:

• Commit to a 32-hour workweek across all sectors within 5 years, starting with provincial public services, healthcare, and education, and expanding to the broader economy with strong support for businesses to adapt. 
• Require annual progress reports to ensure BC becomes a leader in healthy, productive work.
• Mandate that productivity gains from automation and AI are reinvested into worker time, wellbeing, and wages.

Let’s reclaim the promise that rising productivity should mean a better life for everyone, not just bigger profits for a few.

The Details

A century ago, workers fought for and won the 8-hour workday, the 40-hour workweek, paid vacation, and the weekend, not as handouts from employers, but through strikes, organizing, and decades of solidarity. Before that, most industrial workers put in 10 to 16 hours a day, six days a week. Children as young as eight worked alongside adults. Injuries, often caused by dangerous working conditions, could cost you your job, and the life expectancy for working-class people was decades shorter than it is today. The fight for shorter work hours was about survival, dignity, and the radical idea that time for family, community, education, and rest is a human right.

For decades after WWII, productivity and wages rose together, and workers shared in the gains. Starting in the 1970s, that link was deliberately broken by policies of greed and disempowerment. Productivity kept climbing for nearly 30 years while real wages flatlined, benefits were cut, and vacation time stalled. Two-income households became the norm as women entered the workforce in greater numbers, often out of necessity, just to keep pace with costs.

Canada’s productivity growth has slowed to 0.86% a year since 2000, and BC’s has declined since 2020. Our output per worker lags behind other advanced economies, and the gap with the U.S. is growing. For decades, we were told the gains would “trickle down,” but they never did. The answer isn’t to work people harder or longer. It’s to work smarter, in healthier and more innovative ways.

Proof It Works

• United Kingdom (2022–23): 61 companies in a variety of sectors and about 3,000 workers took part. Productivity was maintained or improved in 92 percent of workplaces, and revenue grew. 56 companies are continuing the four-day workweek.
• Iceland (2015–2019): 2,500 workers participated. Productivity stayed the same or improved. Now 86 percent of Iceland’s workforce has shorter hours or the right to negotiate them.
• BC Examples: 
• Vancouver law firm YLaw saw revenues surge while performance improved. 
• Vancouver’s Blackbird Interactive reports equal or better output after making the shift.

Why It Works for Workers and BC

This model follows the proven 100-80-100 principle: 100% of the pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintain at least 100% productivity. It’s not about cramming five days of work into four, it’s about working better, not longer. 

And it’s not just for office jobs. It works in every sector. Automation, smarter scheduling, and improved workflows make it viable in manufacturing, construction, trades, and retail.

Shorter workweeks:

• Improve health by giving people more time for rest, exercise, healthy meals, and medical care.
• Boost focus by reducing fatigue and wasted hours, creating more engaged workdays.
• Support skill-building by freeing up time for training or education.
• Raise retention by keeping employees happier and reducing turnover costs.
• Increase innovation by allowing rested minds to solve problems faster and spark fresh ideas.
• Attract global talent by pairing BC’s natural environment with three-day weekends.
• Strengthen social networks by giving people more time to get involved in volunteering, civil society, and community organizing.

When productivity rises, workers are also better positioned to negotiate higher wages, stronger benefits, and better protections, creating a cycle of future gains.

BC needs bold, strategic action. A shorter workweek won’t solve every problem, but it can boost productivity, attract and keep talent, ease burnout, and push businesses to innovate. At a time when US tariffs, supply chain shocks, and global instability threaten BC’s economy, we can’t afford to compete by driving people into longer hours and lower wages. Our advantage must come from innovation, resilience, and a healthier workforce, and a four-day workweek helps us get there.

Companies that can’t rely on endless overtime will invest in research and development, automation, and smarter workflows. This will make our economy more competitive and future-ready. As AI and automation reshape work, a four-day workweek helps ensure the benefits are shared, not hoarded by the few at the top.

This isn’t a radical idea. It’s the long-overdue next step in the same workers’ struggle that brought us the weekend and the 8-hour workday. Technology and productivity have advanced far beyond the factory lines of the Industrial Revolution, but our workweek is stuck in the past.

It’s time to renew that fight. We can take back our time. Sign the BC Greens petition to demand a four-day workweek for BC.