Thousands working for Canada’s federal public service are at risk of being laid off. This isn’t altogether shocking because news of the government’s efforts to reduce the size of the public service during the November budget has already been out for sometime now.
Media reports say that Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has sent at least 1,700 ‘workforce adjustment notices’ to its employees in the last week warning them of layoffs.
These notices about impending headcount reduction have reportedly also reached employees of Health Canada.
In the past one year, it is reported that over 4,000 workers have received notices, excluding thousands of contract workers whose contracts were either not renewed or were terminated.
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) has reportedly witnessed over 1,800 of its employees being served the workforce adjustment notice.
It is pertinent to mention here that PSAC staff members are deployed across various government departments, such as Shared Services Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, Statistics Canada and the Treasury Board Secretariat.
Some of those receiving the warning notice will be reassigned to other roles.
The budget had come up with a strategy to reduce the size of the federal workforce by 30,000 roles over a period of five years.
In 2024, the strength of the public service had crossed 3.67 lakhs but had fallen to about 3.5 lakhs in 2025.