TORONTO, (Reuters) – Canada’s top medical official Theresa Tam warned Monday that COVID-19 incidences could spike rapidly as a result of Omicron-related community spreading.

Companies have delayed their return to office plans due to concerns about the highly transmissible variant.

We have the most up-to-date plans from Canadian insurers and banks to send staff back to work.

Bank of Nova Scotia: Scotiabank announced that it has stopped plans for a gradual return to its Toronto headquarters employees starting Jan. 17. Different groups will experience a different return schedule. The majority of head-office staff will adopt a hybrid work model.

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE): Canada’s 2nd-largest life insurer has halted work to reopen its pilot program for new employees. It will remain open until January 31st.

Company has created a flexible approach to return-to office for most of the 12,000 employees in Canada. This will give them flexibility and allow them to pick where they want to work.

National Bank of Canada: Canada’s 6th-largest lender asked its employees to telecommute if they can.

Royal Bank of Canada – While 61,000 of their employees currently work remotely, many of them have returned to office in recent weeks or months. Some of these employees will switch to a hybrid model where they work from home but also at the office.

Each region or business group will determine the most suitable work arrangement. All employees will have at least four weeks notice prior to returning to their offices.

Toronto-Dominion Bank : While employees who work from home will not be returning to their bank branches before 2022 is expected, it “monitoring” the changing situation. When the conditions are right, the bank prepares for employees returning to TD offices.

Bank of Montreal: Some workers who had been working remotely returned to BMO offices in June while others began work during the autumn. There will be different time frames for full-fledged returns depending on the geography, team and group.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce: The majority of Canadian workers who work from home will be returning to the office on a hybrid basis by early 2022.

Manulife Financial (NYSE): Manulife anticipates that employees from Canada and the United States will return to work on January 24, and many of them working three days per week, Monday, Wednesday and one flexible day in the office.

In addition, the banks and insurers have put in place mandatory vaccination policies https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canadas-major-banks-require-employees-entering-premises-be-vaccinated-2021-08-20 that employees will need to follow to return to their premises.