Unions representing federal workers warn that pending cuts could lead to burnout and harm the services Canadians rely on.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne directed his fellow cabinet ministers to find ways to save on public service spending Monday.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), which represents 240,000 public service workers, said cuts will inevitably harm the public services that Canadians rely on. Last year alone, the federal public service lost 10,000 jobs.
More cuts have been announced, including at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The Union of Taxation Employees (UTE), which represents CRA employees, has reported that thousands of their members have been told their jobs are at risk.
“Canada’s public service isn’t a piggy bank we can dip into whenever the government wants to fund new projects,” said Sharon DeSousa, PSAC National President. “We’ve always been open to working with the government to find savings, but we need a government that is truly willing to work with workers and unions — not around them.”
At the CRA, workers have learned the agency will have to reduce spending by $715 million by the 2028-2029 fiscal year. The UTE said the cuts that have already happened have led to deterioration of the public services the CRA provides.
“If Prime Minister Carney goes ahead with these additional cuts, the situation at the CRA will become nothing short of catastrophic,” said Marc Brière, UTE National President. “Our union is deeply concerned about the impact on services, but also for the health and safety of our members, particularly their mental health.”
PSAC recently released the results of their 2024 Public Service Employee Survey which show that public service employees are seeing massive burnout and overwork.
Approximately half of all respondents indicated that not having enough employees to do the work is a contributor to work-related stress. These results came out just a week before a report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives showed that the Canadian workforce is one of the most stressed in the world.
“A strong public service starts with a workforce that’s respected and supported, not run into the ground,” PSAC wrote on their website. “Cutting or capping the public service will worsen many of the issues highlighted in the survey, such as overwork, stress, burnout, workers’ mental health and their ability to respond to the needs of people in Canada.”
PSAC is not the only union worried about the proposed cuts. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said their leadership is alarmed by the speed at which Prime Mark Carney and his government are making cuts to public services.
“Not even Stephen Harper could dream of cuts this deep,” said CUPE National President Mark Hancock. “Whether it’s dental care, services for Indigenous communities, environmental programs or public sector jobs – everything is on the chopping block except military spending.”
Both CUPE and PSAC are calling on Mark Carney to fulfill his campaign promise of caps, not cuts. “Cutting jobs means cutting services. Full stop,” DeSousa said. “It means longer wait times for passports, parental benefits and EI cheques, shuttered programs, and a government that can’t deliver for people in Canada.”
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