‘Hunger Games-style anxiety’: Unions raise concerns after 5,400 layoff notices issued to federal workers

Federal public service workers rallied on Parliament Hill to protest job cuts to Canada’s public service. CTV’s Katelyn Wilson reports.

A federal union says notices being issued across the public service are creating “a Hunger Games-style anxiety” that’s forcing public servants to fight for their jobs, as the federal government begins to implement its plans to cut 28,000 jobs over the next four years.

Several federal departments began notifying public servants that their jobs may be impacted by workforce adjustments this week, including Statistics Canada, Shared Services Canada, Global Affairs Canada, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and Public Services and Procurement Canada.

Data provided by federal unions to CTV News Ottawa show 5,404 federal workers received notices this week that their jobs may be affected by the comprehensive expenditure review, including 3,200 at Statistics Canada, 1,200 at Shared Services Canada and 736 notices at Public Services and Procurement Canada.

Rally planned in Ottawa

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) is planning a rally in downtown Ottawa on Friday to protest cuts to federal science departments and the broader public service.

“As workforce cuts accelerate, public servants are being forced into a Hunger Games-style fight for jobs, competing for their own positions, while outside consultants carry on untouched,” PIPSC said in a media release on Friday morning.

PIPSC says it wants the federal government to explain why public servants are facing job cuts while the federal government continues to spend money on consultants.

“This week saw major waves of workforce cuts at Shared Services Canada and Statistics Canada, dealing a serious blow to Canada’s digital and information infrastructure,” Sean O’Reilly, president of PIPSC, said in a statement.

“We are hearing directly from members that consultants are still working alongside employees who received layoff notices this week. That raises serious questions.”

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PIPSC says consultants cost “at least 26 per cent more than public servants.”

“If you are trying to save money, you do not lay off trained, experienced workers and pay someone else more to do the same job,” O’Reilly said. “That’s not savings. That’s waste.”

‘Uncertainty and instability’

O’Reilly says the notices issued to employees as part of the comprehensive expenditure review have deepened “uncertainty and instability across the public service.”

“These are core public services Canadians rely on every day,” said O’Reilly. “Slashing capacity across these federal departments weakens cybersecurity, undermines evidence-based decision-making, and delays service delivery. Cuts today mean crisis tomorrow.”

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada says hundreds of its members received notices this week, warning their jobs may be affected by the comprehensive expenditure review. PIPSC says 940 members at Statistics Canada, 737 members at Shared Services Canada, and 17 employees at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat received notices this week.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) says 350 of its members at Statistics Canada received workforce adjustment letters on Monday. On Friday, PSAC said 730 members at Public Services and Procurement Canada, 530 staffers at Shared Services Canada and 125 members at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat also received notices this week.

“This week’s cuts are part of the federal government’s plan to slash critical public services and cut tens of thousands of public service jobs over the next three years,” Sharon DeSousa, PSAC national president, said in a statement. “When jobs are cut, programs slow down, people wait longer, and communities lose the support they rely on every day.”

PSAC warns the cuts will impact departments that “provide critical services.

“The government is cutting first and explaining later,” DeSousa said. “Workers and the people who depend on public services are in the dark. You don’t build a stronger country by gutting the very programs that make up its foundation.”

The Canadian Association of Professional Employees said 1,906 members at Statistics Canada received notices this week, along with 23 members at Shared Services Canada.

Cutting jobs to save

The Canada Strong Budget 2025 outlined a plan to cut another 28,000 positions from the federal public service over the next four years and find $60 billion in savings.

The goal is 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.