A person walks past the West Block of Parliament Hill in Ottawa in 2024.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Government departments have identified more than 16,000 planned job cuts to date, according to a new federal tracker released Friday.
The new database, created by the Treasury Board of Canada, shows departments have set targets to eliminate a combined 16,397 positions, of which 642 are executive roles.
The figures tabulate announcements made by two-dozen departments since the start of December. The 24 departments represent about half of all jobs in the federal public service.
The release of the database is the first time that the federal government has provided a central summary of the wave of recent job announcements by individual departments.
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The Treasury Board plans to update the database as more departments announce their staffing plans.
The Liberal government’s Nov. 4 budget announced plans to reduce the size of the public service by 30,000 positions, in addition to a recent 10,000 cut from a peak in 2024.
The staffing reductions are part of a broader five-year plan to find nearly $60-billion in internal savings.
Public-service unions and the Parliamentary Budget Officer have been critical of departments for not providing more detail about their cost-cutting plans.
While some have announced targets for job cuts, few have released specific details as to what reductions could mean for specific programs or services.
The job-cut targets include positions that could be eliminated through attrition.
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The new database also provides figures for the number of people who are receiving work-force adjustment letters. Such letters indicate a position could be affected. If that’s the case, labour agreements provide options such as swapping positions with another worker who is not affected but who wishes to leave the government.
The government has said it is aiming to rely on attrition and voluntary departures as much as possible.
Most departments were given targets of achieving up to 15 per cent in savings over three years. However, some were given lower targets of just 2 per cent in recognition of the “essential nature” of their mandate.
These include the two departments responsible for Indigenous issues, as well as National Defence, Public Safety, Women and Gender Equality, and federal research granting councils.
The number of employees receiving work-force adjustment letters is higher than the total number of targeted job cuts.
According to the new Treasury Board data, 22,181 people have received letters to date that their positions may be affected. In addition, 882 executives received letters saying their positions could be at risk. The letters to executives, who are not unionized, are in reference to a similar process called career adjustment.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada, which is the largest federal union, raised concerns this week about how job-cut information is being rolled out, saying it is causing widespread concern and anxiety among public-sector workers.
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“The government still has not explained what programs will be impacted by these cuts, or how they will affect the supports that people in Canada rely on. This should concern everyone in Canada, not just those whose jobs are on the line,” Sharon DeSousa, PSAC national president, said in a statement.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer released a report Tuesday that said the departments are not providing information about the impact of cuts on services to Canadians.
“In the absence of such detail, as noted in testimony to the House and Senate, it is difficult for PBO to assess the fiscal and operational risks to achieving the stated savings and therefore the government’s ability to respect its fiscal anchors,” the report said.