Hundreds of federal civil servants will learn their fate in January

Some ministries, such as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Environment and Climate Change and Employment and Social Development, have already announced to their staff that details will be given on this subject at the start of next year.

The federal government wants to reduce its operating expenses by approximately $60 billion over five years.

In its last budget presented in November, the government indicated that this reduction would require adjustments to the civil service workforce. He is counting in particular on attrition to bring it “to a more viable size”.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change has told its employees that it will implement the operating expenditure decisions in mid-January.

“While there is no ideal time for these announcements, implementing in the new year will allow us to provide clear information to all employees,” he said. You may hear from other ministries as they begin to implement their decisions. »

Employment and Social Development Canada announced that its workforce reduction would begin in January.

“We cannot confirm the number of positions that will be eliminated at this time,” department spokesperson Mila Roy told the Canadian Press in early December. However, [le ministère] will continue to leverage attrition and workforce planning, with the goal of minimizing impact on employees as much as possible. »

The government plans to cut around 40,000 jobs in the public service, which had 368,000 positions in 2023-2024. Around 10,000 jobs have been lost over the past year.

The plan includes the elimination of 1,000 management positions over the next two years and a 20% reduction in spending on management and consulting services over three years.

For its part, the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced that it expected to eliminate approximately 300 positions over the next three years.

“Additional reductions will likely be necessary to align with planned adjustments to funding linked to immigration levels,” the message said.

The ministry said about half of these jobs will be lost through attrition and non-renewal of fixed-term positions, with the remainder being addressed under the government’s upcoming early retirement and workforce adjustment program.

The federal government has sent letters with information about its early retirement program to nearly 68,000 public employees who may qualify.

The government says it is trying to increase the rate of natural attrition and avoid laying off young workers by proposing a voluntary program allowing workers to retire early without suffering a pension penalty.

The latest federal budget indicates that the government intends to implement the one-year early retirement program as early as January, although legislation is still needed to move the project forward.

The Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada noted in its message that Prime Minister Mark Carney had clearly expressed the need to reduce the number of executives across government and that the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat was providing each federal organization with a specific objective.

The ministry planned to reduce management positions by around 10-15%. These cuts will be added to the 300 positions already eliminated, he said.

Government data indicates that the ministry had a workforce of 11,148 people as of March 31, including 293 in management positions.

The ministry, which had already announced earlier a plan to cut more than 3,300 jobs over three years, intends to inform those affected from mid-January or the end of January.

“We hope this update will help you better understand the implications [de l’examen complet des dépenses] for our ministry, and that you will have the opportunity to rest and recharge during the holidays,” the message read.

At the beginning of December, the Public Service Alliance of Canada reported that 219 of its members working at the Department of Natural Resources had received a notice this week informing them that their positions could be eliminated.

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada said Friday that about 200 of its own members at the same department had received these notices.

According to the union, 109 other people at the Public Service Commission of Canada, 92 people at the Department of Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs and 74 employees at the Department of Finance received similar notices.

According to David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, these job cuts were only the “tip of the iceberg.”

He wants to be reassuring by saying that many civil servants have been informed that their jobs are threatened, does not necessarily mean that they will be laid off.

“If there are enough retirements or if people leave the ministry, that means fewer people will actually be laid off,” he argues.

Mr Macdonald says several departments are facing significant operational cuts. “It’s not entirely clear how they’re going to achieve this without layoffs and service reductions,” he adds.