Telecommuting has been defined in several ways. For the purpose of this paper, telecommuting
(also known as teleworking) is defined as the concept of employees performing some portion of
their regular work activities from a remote location, while receiving their regular salary and
benefits. This remote work location is typically a satellite office, a neighbourhood office or the
employee’s home.
Most telecommuting occurs on a part-time basis, one to three days per week. Not every job nor
every worker is suitable to telecommute. Although the actual number of telecommuters is
unknown, it has been estimated that approximately 7.6 million Americans were telecommuters in
1993 -- 6.1% of the total American workforce. If even a slightly smaller proportion of
telecommuters is applied to the Canadian workforce (i.e. 5.75%), there are at least 738,150
Canadian telecommuters.
While being influenced by many factors, telecommuting has risen in prominence primarily due to
transformations in telecommunications and information technology, the nature of work, the
workers, the workplace, urban highway congestion and in some jurisdictions, environmental
legislation. Encouraging the establishment of telework centres and home-based telecommuting
can increase employment opportunities within the community. Reducing the number of daily trips
to a central work place may reduce transportation infrastructure costs (construction and
maintenance) and have a positive effect on the environment (improved air quality and energy
conservation). With more people staying within their neighbourhood to work, a greater sense of
community can result.
Telecommuting deserves serious attention on the part of municipalities because it can deliver large
benefits in economic, environmental and social terms. This paper is designed to inform, stimulate discussion, and aid in the review of out-dated municipal regulations and procedures as they
pertain to telecommuting. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/5227 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Robertson, Judith Irene |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 2726803 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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