OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney's commitment to reduce the public service through attrition has been labeled "misleading" and "reckless" by a federal union leader. Carney was questioned by reporters last week about his intention to uphold his election promise to cap the public service while seeking operational savings. He stated that the cap would involve adjustments that would occur naturally through attrition.

"There’s a certain age cohort in the public sector. People leave employment, whether it’s in the public or private sector, for a variety of reasons. Attractive opportunities outside, retirement on the other side. So we’ll be managing through that," Carney explained.

Sharon DeSousa, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, countered Carney’s assertion, claiming it ignores the reality facing Canada’s public services. She stated that many permanent public servants have already been informed of job cuts, which are not due to retirements or voluntary departures but rather direct layoffs.

"These job losses are already weakening the public services people rely on, from Canada Revenue Agency tax services to employment insurance and child care benefits, and thousands more cuts are expected in the months ahead," DeSousa said. She criticized the federal government’s austerity measures as "lazy, reckless, and short-sighted."

Finance Minister François Philippe Champagne indicated earlier this month that adjustments to the public service are forthcoming as Ottawa aims to reduce operational spending in the upcoming fall budget. He mentioned that he had received feedback from cabinet colleagues regarding a request for a 15 percent cut in spending over the next three years. When asked if this plan might lead to public service layoffs, Champagne stated that the government would "find adjustments," noting that the growth of the public sector during the COVID-19 pandemic was "not sustainable."

Several federal departments and agencies have announced staffing reductions this year, with recent cuts affecting employees at Library and Archives Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Evert Lindquist, a professor at the University of Victoria, noted that while the Carney government has not yet revealed the results of its spending review, some departments may have already begun cutting positions in response to earlier reviews.

Lindquist warned that as the government continues its cost-cutting efforts, the usual outflow of employees may not be matched by new hires. "Governments often overshoot their targets when they cut staff," he said. "And then what they discover is they don’t have enough people to do things that the government cares about, or to provide services to citizens, so then they wind up hiring again."

Most of the job losses last year affected "term" employees, with over three-quarters of those affected being under 35 years old. Former clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick described the government's approach to reducing the public service as passive and "kind of random." He suggested that the government should develop a labor force strategy to clearly define where it intends to reduce and expand payrolls.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives recently warned that austerity measures could lead to nearly 57,000 job cuts from the public service by 2028. Senior economist Marc Lee expressed skepticism about the government's reliance on attrition to reduce the public service. He anticipates that the upcoming federal budget, expected in November, will be one of the most significant in decades.

According to Treasury Board data, just over 12,800 individuals left the public service in 2023-24, representing a four percent reduction. This figure included approximately 8,000 retirements and about 2,200 resignations. The federal public service employed 319,877 people that year. Lee noted that even if the government does not hire any new public servants over the next three years, it would still not meet the 15 percent savings target. He warned that deeper cuts or reductions in transfers to other levels of government, non-profits, and individuals may be necessary to achieve the desired savings.