Canadian Museum for Human Rights lays off staff amid federal cost-cutting program

Seven employees from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights have been let go amid belt-tightening measures from the federal government.

Several staff members at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights are being laid off as part of an Ottawa initiative to trim government staff.

A spokesperson for the museum confirmed Wednesday that seven people have been laid off.

“The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is implementing staffing reductions resulting from the Government of Canada’s Comprehensive Expenditure Review program,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The CMHR said its focus is on supporting the impacted employees, and did not share what roles they had at the museum.

The Liberal government’s 2025 budget included plans to reduce the size of federal public service workers by 28,000 positions by 2029. The majority of the positions – 16,000 – will be eliminated through an expenditure review, while the remaining 12,000 will be eliminated through attrition and early retirement.

- With files from CTV’s Josh Pringle