Federal public service shrinks for 1st time in a decade

The federal public service has shrunk for the first time since 2015, after shedding nearly 10,000 jobs over the last year, according to new data released by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS).

Of the 9,807 jobs cut between 2024 and 2025, a significant majority — 7,051, or 72 per cent — were in federal agencies such as Parks Canada, the National Capital Commission and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

The rest — 2,756 or 28 per cent — were in the core public administration.

The federal public service has shrunk for the first time since 2015, after shedding nearly 10,000 jobs over the last year, according to new data released by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS).

Of the 9,807 jobs cut between 2024 and 2025, a significant majority — 7,051, or 72 per cent — were in federal agencies such as Parks Canada, the National Capital Commission and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The rest — 2,756 or 28 per cent — were in the core public administration.

CRA has announced rounds of layoffs over the last year, with more coming just this week.

These successive cuts hit our members hard, but they also greatly impact the Canadian population and businesses, said Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) national president Marc Brière in a statement Friday.

With every position eliminated, processing delays grow longer, calls go unanswered, files pile up, and citizens are left behind in uncertainty. [CRA staff] who remain are being pushed beyond their limits.

Among the core departments, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada also took a big hit, losing 1,944 employees and leaving it with 11,148 workers.

A handful of departments and agencies saw growth in their workforces over last year, including Natural Resources Canada, which gained 293 employees, National Defence (381 employees), Global Affairs Canada (218 employees) and the Communications Security Establishment (196 employees).

During the recent federal election campaign, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre both vowed to stop wasteful spending in the federal public service.

Poilievre said a Conservative government would reduce both the size of the public service and its use of contractors. Carney said his government would cap the public service and emphasize the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

The Liberal government has not released a budget since being elected. Carney has said it will do so in the fall.

This article is republished from RCI.