Statistics Canada to cut 850 jobs over next 2 years, 100 this week: memo

Statistics Canada confirms it is cutting 850 positions and 12% of its executive team as the government shrinks the public service. CTV’s Stefan Keyes reports.

Statistics Canada says it plans to cut hundreds of positions over the next two years, including 100 immediate cuts this week.

The federal agency confirmed it is entering into a workforce adjustment period this week, which will affect approximately 850 positions and 12 per cent of its executive team.

“Statistics Canada will be informing affected and surplus employees within the next two weeks. The process will follow the Workforce Adjustment Directive and/or the applicable collective agreement,” said Statistics Canada spokesperson Carter Mann in a statement.

“Statistics Canada remains focused on serving Canadians and adapting to future needs as we move through this period of change.”

An internal memo obtained by CTV News says the first 100 employees will be informed this week that their jobs are considered “surplus.” The remaining 750 job reductions will come from a pool of approximately 3,200 employees, who will be told over the next two weeks that their positions are “affected” and could no longer be needed.

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According to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Statistics Canada had 7,274 employees in 2025, up from 5,452 in 2019; however, this is due, in part, to hundreds of employees from the separate Statistical Survey Operations agency merging with Statistics Canada in 2023.

The internal memo said voluntary departures through the Voluntary Departure Program and the proposed Early Retirement Initiative would reduce the number of involuntary job cuts required to achieve the agency’s Comprehensive Expenditure Review target.

Last fall, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the Canadian public service had grown too large, specifically pointing to the growth seen since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

The Liberal government says it wants to reduce the size of the federal public service from its peak of 367,772 employees in March 2024 to 330,000 by 2028-29.

The 2025 federal budget, tabled on Nov. 5, outlined a plan to cut 28,000 jobs from the federal public service and achieve $60 billion in savings by 2029.

Several federal departments will be notifying public servants this month if their jobs may be impacted by workforce adjustments.

Union warns of ‘generational rollback’ in services

In response to the cuts at Statistics Canada and other federal departments and agencies, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) said the massive loss of experienced public servants could lead to a “generational rollback” in services to Canadians.

“These are not abstract cuts on the government’s balance sheet - they are real jobs, real expertise and real services at risk,” said PIPSC President Sean O’Reilly in a news release. ”Once this capacity is gone, it cannot be quickly or cheaply replaced. It’s a dark time for the federal public service.”

Speaking on Statistics Canada in particular, PIPSC warned losing so many staff would hamstring operations across the entire federal government.

“If the government wants sound analysis to help retool the Canadian economy, it needs the right data and analysts who know how to interpret it. That capacity doesn’t exist without Statistics Canada experts. That capacity was slashed today,” said O’Reilly. “Given the challenges Canada is facing, this is the wrong decision at the worst possible time.”

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) says at least 350 of its members received workforce adjustment letters on Monday.

“The employer still hasn’t explained what this will mean for programs or services, leaving workers — and the people who rely on them — in the dark," said PSAC National executive vice-president Alex Silas in a statement.

“Statistics Canada provides the data governments, communities, and businesses depend on to make decisions. Cutting hundreds of skilled workers puts the quality, accuracy, and timeliness of that data at risk and impacts everyone who relies on this information to plan, respond, and make decisions. It’s time for the government to be clear about the impacts of these cuts because slashing public service jobs undermines the critical services communities rely on.”

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle and Austin Lee