The federal government will shrink the size of the public service by 40,000 people over five years as part of a budget plan to find nearly $60-billion in internal savings in part by reversing the growth in government ranks since the pandemic.

Some specific programs are listed for elimination. But most of the savings are described by departments as general efficiencies to be realized through staffing reductions – including attrition, early retirements and potential layoffs. They also pledge to spend less in areas such as training, travel and contracting.

As a result, many of the details related to spending cuts will be revealed over the coming months by individual departments.

The size of the public service has climbed steadily since the Liberals formed government in 2015 and accelerated

See Full Page