Federal department plans outline public service job cuts, spending reductions

Federal departments are describing how they’ll save money and where they’ll cut jobs over the next three years. CTV’s Dylan Dyson reports.

The federal government is outlining how departments and agencies will reduce the size of the public service and achieve $60 billion in savings in the years ahead.

The Canada Strong Budget 2025, released in November, outlined a plan to reduce the size of the federal public service by 28,000 positions by 2029, and directed departments to find up to 15 per cent in savings as part of the comprehensive expenditure review.

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Now, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat has released the departmental plans for 2026-27, which outlines how 90 federal departments and agencies will meet commitments to find savings as part of the comprehensive expenditure review between 2026-27 and 2028-29.

The departmental plans also outline how many full-time equivalent positions each department will cut over the next three years, including 1,500 job cuts at Employment and Social Development Canada, 1,200 positions at Global Affairs Canada, 665 positions at Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada and 837 positions at Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Data provided by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, federal departments and unions show more than 26,000 public servants have received notices their jobs could be at risk.

In a statement to CTV News Ottawa, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) said many of the positions being reduced are people “whose work quietly underpins the systems Canadians depend on every day.”

“These are the experts who test and inspect the food that appears on grocery store shelves. They are the scientists who track emerging agricultural diseases before they devastate crops or livestock. They are the engineers and inspectors who help ensure transportation systems are safe and resilient,” PIPSC said.

Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) national executive vice-president Alex Silas told CTV News Ottawa these cuts will directly impact services for Canadians.

“We can expect longer wait times and longer lineups at passport offices. We can expect longer times on hold when you’re calling to get questions answered about your E.I., about your parental benefits, about your income taxes. I think veterans are going to suffer as well because they’re going to have a reduction of services from Veterans Affairs. There’s a whole myriad of ways that that that Canadians are going to be negatively impacted by these cuts,” he said.

“The Canadian public has been clear, there’s been surveys run on this. Nobody wants to talk to a robot when you’re calling the federal government. You want a person, a human being on the other end of that line with compassion, with empathy, who’s there to provide a service to you, who wants to help and you can have a conversation with. You’re never going to get that from an AI.”

CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the plans for several federal departments and organizations over the next three years.

Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada

The departmental plan shows Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada is planning spending reductions of $112 million in 2026-27, $80 million in 2027-28 and $154 million in 2028-29.

The savings will be achieved by “winding down some programs outside its core mandate, such as the Agricultural Climate Solution Living Labs” programs. The department also plans to improve operational efficiency by optimizing internal services, including “rationalizing administrative support and reducing management layers, advancing technology and automation to cut down on time-consuming manual work, and reducing reliance on external contractors.

Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada plan to reduce its workforce by 665 positions by 2028-29.

The department plans to reduce its workforce from 4,927 positions in 2025-26 to 4,801 positions in 2026-27, 4,642 positions in 2027-28, and 4,215 positions in 2028-29.

Canadian Heritage

Canadian Heritage plans to reduce spending by $34,670,817 in 2026-27, $49.2 million in 2027-28, and $93 million in 2028-29.

According to the departmental plan, Canadian Heritage will find $75.9 million in savings by 2028-29 through the Canada Cultural Space Fund, Canada Media Fund, Canada Periodical Fund, Local Journalism and Digital Citizen program.

Canadian Heritage plans to cut 172 positions by 2028-29.

The department plans to reduce the size of its workforce from 1,946 positions in 2025-26 to 1,872 positions in 2026-27 and 1,716 positions by 2028-29.

Canada Revenue Agency

The departmental plan for the Canada Revenue Agency shows the workforce will decrease from 51,427 positions in 2026-27 to 49,498 positions in 2026-27, 48,939 employees in 2027-28 and 48,807 positions in 2028-29.

The CRA says it will reduce spending under the comprehensive expenditure review by $90 million in 2026-27, $131.7 million in 2027-28 and $187 million in 2028-29.

The department says it will achieve the reductions by “modernizing its administrative approach” and winding down its business units “that are no longer connected to government priorities.” The CRA says it will also leverage artificial intelligence and process automation to transform technologies, data, and analytics systems for CRA activities.

Employment and Social Development Canada

Employment and Social Development Canada plans to decrease the size of its workforce by 1,500 positions between 2026-27 and 2028-29.

The departmental plan shows the department will reduce spending by $156.8 million in 2026-27, $519.8 million in 2027-28 and $780.5 million in 2028-29.

The department plans to advance the reductions by implementing a “new Digital Roadmap” to “better harness technology, such as leveraging artificial intelligence,” modernize Services Canada by “fully integrating our service channels,” and streamlining program delivery and administrative functions.

Employment and Social Development Canada plans to reduce the size of its workforce from 34,514 FTE positions in 2025-26 to 30,945 FTE positions in 2026-27 and 29,893 positions in 2027-28.

The report shows the drop in full-time equivalent (FTE) positions is due to a reduction in planned positions for the delivery of Passport services and other service delivery partnerships, lower staffing for processing and payments of Employment Insurance and the Canada Pension Plan and due to the sunsetting of temporary program funding.

Environment and Climate Change Canada

The departmental plan shows Environment and Climate Change Canada plans to reduce spending by $236.7 million in 2026-27, $244 million in 2027-28 and $282 million in 2028-29.

According to the plan, the department will reduce the Low Carbon Economy Fund, align nature funding for better overall results and improve internal business strategies.

Environment and Climate Change Canada plans to reduce its workforce by 837 positions by 2028-29.

The number of positions at Environment and Climate Change Canada will drop from 8,196 full-time equivalent positions in 2025-26 to 7,868 positions in 2026-27, 7.678 positions in 2027-28 and 7,352 positions by 2028-29.

Global Affairs Canada

Global Affairs Canada plans to reduce the size of its workforce by 1,240 full-time equivalent positions by 2028-29, and find spending reductions of $560.8 million in 2026-27, $747 million in 2027-28 and $1.12 billion in 2028-29.

According to the plan, Global Affairs will achieve the reductions by:

• Refocusing Canada’s international presence in the areas of advocacy and diplomacy
• Implementing targeted reforms across the trade and investment portfolio
• Aligning development, peace, and security programming with current strategic priorities
• Finding efficiencies across Canada’s mission network through a range of measures and cost-saving strategies.

The size of the workforce will drop from 13,293 full-time equivalent positions in 2025-26 to 12,647 positions in 2026-27, 12,199 positions in 2027-28, and 11,760 positions in 2028-29.

Health Canada

Health Canada’s departmental plan shows the department will cut 942 positions by 2028-29 and reduce spending by $87.8 million in 2026-27, $152.5 million in 2027-28 and $198.2 million in 2028-29.

The department says it will achieve savings by:

• Modernizing and streamlining programs and operations, focusing resources on its core mandate and high-impact activities.
• Adopting new ways of working and shifting toward a more agile, efficient, and integrated regulatory system that supports Canadians and regulated parties, while maintaining the highest standards of health and safety.
• Modernizing regulatory and research functions to focus on highest-risk areas and enhance alignment with international best practices, strengthening evidence-based decision-making through streamlined oversight, risk-based approaches, and building on established collaboration with international counterparts, industry, and academia.

The sized of Health Canada’s workforce will be reduced from 9,191 positions in 2025-26 to 8,614 employees in 2026-27, 8,529 positions in 2027-28 and 7,023 positions in 2028-29.

“The decrease in FTEs for 2028-29 is primarily due to the expiry of budgetary authorities for the administration of the Cannabis Act and its regulations and the Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy,” Health Canada said in its plan. “Additionally, FTE reductions from the Comprehensive Expenditure Review are reflected in the table above for 2028-29.”

Public Services and Procurement Canada

The departmental plan for Public Services and Procurement Canada shows the size of the workforce will decrease by 1,793 positions by 2028-29, and the department will reduce spending by $108 million in 2026-27, $147 million in 2027-28 and $190.8 million in 2028-29.

The department says it will achieve its reductions by:

• Undertake strategic realignments to reduce ongoing costs to operate programs and efficiently deliver services as a common service provider for the government
• Reduce ongoing costs for its Real Property Revolving Fund by focusing on core mandates, modernizing operations, and reducing duplicative functions
• Wind down activities of the Canada General Standards Board
• Reduce funding to pilot and innovation projects for Laboratories Canada
• Review its internal processes to reduce administrative requirements and delayer management
• Advance digital delivery of procurement-related documents and better manage project delivery, and reduce spending on professional services and travel
• Implement the use of AI chat bots and self-service tools to improve service delivery

The workforce will be reduced from 18,689 employees in 2025-26 to 17,449 positions in 2026-27, 13,390 positions in 2027-28 and 12,929 employees in 2028-29.

Shared Services Canada

Shared Services Canada says it will reduce spending by $159.3 million in 2026-27, $212 million in 2027-28 and $318.5 million in 2028-29, and trim its workforce by “fewer than 500 full-time equivalent positions” over the next three years.

The departmental plan shows Shared Services Canada will achieve its targets under the comprehensive expenditure review by:

• Driving efficient enterprise solutions and controlling consumption
• Reducing reliance on Legacy
• Increasing efficiency through artificial intelligence, automation and modernizing business processes, and
• Reducing dependency on professional services.

Shared Services Canada will reduce its workforce from 8,928 positions in 20250-26 to 8,796 positions in 2026-27, 8,656 positions in 2027-28 and 8,344 employees in 2028-29.

Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada says it will decrease its workforce by 900 positions over the next three years and reduce spending by $52.8 million in 2026-27, $69.7 million in 2027-28 and $95.9 million in 2028-29.

Statistics Canada’s departmental plan shows the department will achieve its spending reductions by:

• Program realignment through targeted reductions and rescoping.
• Implementation of program cost-saving efficiencies.

The workforce will reduce from 6,129 positions in 2026-27 to 5,169 positions in 2027-28 and 4,252 positions by 2028-29.

“Human resources will peak in 2026-27, when the 2026 Census of Population and 2026 Census of Agriculture are conducted,” the departmental plan said.

“As in previous census cycles, a significant decrease in FTEs is expected in subsequent years as census operations wind down.”

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Dylan Dyson

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