The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Tangerine Bank felt the suburban location of its Toronto headquarters at Steeles Avenue East near Highway 404 might be affecting its ability to bring staff back to the office after the pandemic. In a Globe special, Wallace Immen quotes Natalie Jones, chief marketing officer of Tangerine Bank, saying, "In speaking with employees, we regularly heard that people who live downtown wanted an opportunity to work downtown." Employees also wanted more options to commute by transit rather than having to drive. It led to a decision to open an another office downtown. "We have an ambitious agenda to grow our team and bring in new talent. We believe convenient access by GO train, TTC and Bike Share will attract new talent to join our team," Ms. Jones said. It is a theory that was prevalent before 2020, when Toronto's downtown office vacancy rates were in the low single digits. The equation changed in the work-from-home era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Suburban offices with ample parking gained an advantage amid social distancing as commuting by car rather than public transportation became more attractive. Toronto's core vacancies were 15.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023.