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Canada’s public health agency will cut approximately 320 jobs as it continues to adjust its workforce as part of its “post-pandemic recalibration.”
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) says it will reduce roughly 10 percent of jobs within the agency to align with its approved funding levels for fiscal year 2026–2027.
“As part of PHAC’s post-pandemic recalibration and ongoing efforts to adjust to new salary allocations, the Agency must focus resources on government-funded priorities,” a spokesperson for the agency told The Epoch Times on Sept. 9.
The agency’s “recalibration” entails re-prioritizing and streamlining some programs, as well as discontinuing work in some cases, the spokesperson said.
While the spokesperson said the exact number of jobs that will be cut cannot be confirmed at this time, the agency expects to reduce its workforce by approximately 320 positions.
According to Statistics Canada data, the PHAC employed 3,372 people this year, which is down from 4,251 last year. In 2019, the PHAC employed 2,379 staff members, which remained relatively steady until in 2022 when the number of employees jumped to 4,254.
To help shrink its workforce back to pre-pandemic levels, the agency has implemented measures such as pausing external recruitment, ending most term employment, and implementing a “stop the clock” provision for remaining term employees. The provision means term employees can no longer accumulate time toward obtaining indeterminate employment.
“No decisions are being made lightly,” the spokesperson said. “PHAC’s goal is to move forward with a renewed focus on sustainability and public health impact.”
The agency says the cuts to its workforce are not being made as part of the federal government’s expenditure review, which aims to trim public service spending ahead of the release of its fall budget. The spokesperson said the health minister submitted the agency’s expenditure review proposal in late August, but has no further information to share about the proposal at this time.
‘Adjustments’
Last week, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Canada’s public service will need to go through “adjustments” as Ottawa looks to reduce its spending.
He sent a letter to his cabinet colleagues in July asking them to make cuts to their departmental budgets to achieve 7.5 percent savings starting in fiscal 2026, increasing to 10 percent savings in 2027, and then reaching 15 percent in 2028.
Speaking to reporters on Sept. 4, Champagne said his colleagues had responded to his request to reduce their budgets over the next three years. He said “a lot” of staff had been added to the public service during the pandemic period, and that it’s now time to make adjustments to reduce spending.
Champagne’s remarks came after Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on Sept. 3 that his government needs to “rein in” spending and “find efficiencies” ahead of the budget that is set to be tabled in October, which will be the first budget released since Carney took office in April.
Champagne said he is “on the same page” as Carney in terms of the government’s spending review, and said a “leaner and more efficient” government is needed. He called the federal government’s increase in spending over the last decade “unsustainable.” According to Carney, the spending growth rate, which equated to an average of 7 percent per year, is twice the growth rate of the economy on average.
During the spring election, Carney had pledged to lower government spending and cap the size of the government. He also pledged to separate the federal government’s spending into operating and capital budgets, and balance the operational budget within three years.
While Public Service Alliance of Canada President Sharon DeSousa says the federal government’s spending reduction plan is “putting everyone in Canada at risk” by impacting public services, Champagne said the adjustments will not impact service to Canadians.
The minister said public service workers will be given modernized tools to provide more efficient service to the public, adding that much of the current technology being used by public service is “outdated.”
