Federal public service workers are expected to find out about job cuts in their departments when they return to work in January after the holiday break, as Ottawa looks to cut government spending by $60 billion over five years.
Departments such as Environment and Climate Change, Employment and Social Development Canada, and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada have already told their staff to expect news on job cuts in the new year.
The budget says Ottawa will achieve savings by “restructuring operations and consolidating internal services and rightsizing programs to realise efficiencies.”
“It will also involve workforce adjustment and attrition to return the size of the public service to a more sustainable level,” the budget reads.
Environment and Climate Change Canada has told its employees that the department will implement expenditure review decisions in mid-January. Employees whose positions might be affected will be notified at that time, the department said.
Employment and Social Development Canada has also said an adjustment in its staffing levels will begin in January and is expected to include changes for permanent positions.
Meanwhile, the immigration department told its employees that it expects to eliminate around 300 positions over the next three years.
Ottawa has already cut approximately 10,000 positions from the public service over the past year as part of its planned expenditure savings. The number of public servants decreased to around 357,965 this year.
To reach the “more sustainable” level outlined in the budget, Ottawa will have to cut around 30,000 more jobs, the government says.
Approximately 68,000 public servants received letters in early December informing them of eligibility for potential early retirement incentives. The letter said no action was required on the part of the public servants but that those interested in being exempted from pension reductions for early retirement could apply to be considered.
Mohammad Kamal, director of communications for the Office of the President of the Treasury Board, said at the time that Ottawa plans to primarily rely on general attrition or employees leaving voluntarily from the public service. He also said staff could be reassigned to open positions where possible and noted that legislation must still be tabled and passed for the retirement incentives to be granted.
