A newly released report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) predicts that 57,000 full-time federal public service jobs will be lost between 2024 and 2028 due to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s planned cuts.
“The Trudeau-era cuts have already generated substantial layoffs, but they are only the beginning,” wrote David MacDonald, CCPA senior economist. “The Carney cuts are the second axe to fall, and the pain will be deep. High quality service from a federal program will suffer.”
Earlier this week, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) held emergency townhall meetings to prepare their members for the upcoming public service cuts. Carney has started an aggressive review of government spending. The start of the process saw Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne ask his fellow cabinet members to come up with “ambitious saving proposals.”
Champagne is aiming to cut operational spending by 7.5 per cent in 2026-27, 10 per cent in 2027-28 and 15 per cent in 2028-29.
Given Carney’s goal to increase the percentage of Canada’s GDP spent on defense, MacDonald said he does not expect the Department of National Defence, the RCMP or the Canada Border Services Agency to see significant cuts.
The departments most likely to see large amounts of job losses are the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), Employment and Social Development and Citizenship and Immigration, MacDonald wrote.
He said CRA will mainly be cutting jobs because they cannot make cuts to other parts of their budget.
“Staffing makes up 83% of what’s on the line at CRA, so it will have little choice but to cut staff further as the transfers that it administers, like to seniors or the Canada child benefit, are off the chopping block,” MacDonald wrote. “There is little the department can do to shift these cuts elsewhere. If the Carney plan proceeds, job losses within the CRA will more than double in size in the coming years.”
PSAC and other public sector unions have already denounced these plans, saying they put thousands of jobs at risk and will erode the quality of public services Canadians rely on.
“Prime Minister Carney has a choice: work alongside workers to strengthen public services and protect good jobs or continue down a path of deep cuts that will hurt workers, hollow out services, and break public trust,” said PSAC national president Sharon DeSousa.
READ MORE: Public service cuts put worker mental health at risk
The Canadian public service has already lost 10,000 jobs in 2024. The shrinking number of staff is only increasing strain and workloads for those who remain. Data from the PSAC shows that this increasing strain has led to higher numbers of disability claims being filed by public servants.
In 2023, almost a quarter of mental health related disability claims filed were due to major depressive disorders. Another 14 per cent of mental health claims were caused by reactions to severe stress.
With jobs still on the line, PSAC has said they will be working hard to push the government towards other cost-saving solutions that do not lead to layoffs.
“A strong and united Canada relies on Prime Minister Carney keeping his promise of caps, not cuts,” DeSousa said.
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