Defence Department hiring public servants from other federal departments

The facade of the headquarters of the Department of National Defence is pictured in Ottawa, Wednesday April 3, 2013. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The Department of National Defence (DND) is looking to hire public servants from other federal departments, just as the federal government looks to cut another 28,000 jobs.

DND and the Public Service Commission have launched the Pathway to Mobility Initiative, with plans to hire an additional 2,400 to 3,000 people by the end of March 2026, with the potential for further jobs next fiscal year.

• READ: Federal government to cut another 28,000 public service jobs by 2029

Any federal public servant in the Core Public Administration across Canada and abroad can apply to the job inventories at the defence department.

“The Pathway to Mobility facilitates voluntary, at-level deployments to DND,” a Department of National Defence spokesperson said in an email to CTV News Ottawa.

“It offers eight job inventories hosted on the GC Jobs platform and organized by job classification themes, to promote employee mobility. Any public service employee is welcome to submit their application to be considered for at-level job opportunities.”

According to DND, the eight job inventories are organized by theme, including:

• Administrative Services and Programs (AS, CR, PM)
• Chemistry and Scientifics (BI/CH/DS/SG)
• Business, Finance, and Procurement Professional (CO/CT/EC/PG)
• Electronics, Engineering and Information Technology (EL, ENG, IT)
• Federal Health and Wellness Practitioners (HS, MD, ND, NU, OP, PH, PS, SW)
• Operational & Technical Services (EG, FR, GL, GS, GT, HP, TI)
• Professional Services — Educ., Law, HR, and Coms (ED, IS, LP, LS, PE, UT)
• Ships (SC, SO, SR)

As of Nov. 3, DND had received 4,647 applications through the Pathway to Mobility Initiative for a potential job at the department.

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada said it was informed by DND and the Treasury Board Secretariat that the positions at DND will be filled through “voluntary deployments at level.”

“This is not an alternation platform and is unrelated to alternation and Workforce Adjustments,” PIPSC said in a statement on its website.

“If individuals are on PSC priority lists, they will receive these deployments first, but we encourage members to apply. “

Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised “generational investments” in key sectors, including defence. The federal government has committed to reaching NATO’s defence spending target of two per cent of GDP. The plan includes an extra $9 billion on defence by the end of March 2026.

The DND push to hire an additional 2,400 to 3,000 employees by the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2026, comes as the federal government looks to cut jobs as part of the plan to find $60 billion in savings over five years.

• READ: Unions warn federal government ‘gutting’ public service with plans to cut 28,000 jobs

The Canada Strong Budget 2025 outlines the plan to reduce the size of the federal public service by 40,000 jobs through job cuts, attrition, and early retirements, from its peak of 367,772 employees in March 2024, to 330,000 by 2028-29. There were 357,965 federal employees as of March 31, 2025.

As part of the Comprehensive Expenditure Review, the government will reduce 16,000 full-time equivalent positions, including 650 executive positions, while another 12,000 positions, including 350 executive positions, will be eliminated through attrition and early retirement packages.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada said earlier this week that federal workers should learn details about possible layoffs from their managers “shortly.”