Federal public service has lost 23,000 staffers in two years: budget watchdog

OTTAWA — The federal public service has shed more than 23,000 staffers over the last two years, says Canada’s parliamentary spending watchdog.

A new online tool released by the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates there were 344,970 federal employees in the second quarter of this year, down 6.5 per cent from two years ago.

The departments and agencies that gained the most staff over the last two years were National Defence, the Communications Security Establishment, Elections Canada, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada and the Canadian Space Agency.

The departments and agencies that lost the most employees were the Canada Revenue Agency, Employment and Social Development Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada.

Parliamentary budget officer Annette Ryan said in a news release that her office created the tool to help parliamentarians and Canadians hold the government to account on its Budget 2025 commitment to reduce the size of the federal public service by 10 per cent by 2028-29.

“Parliamentarians need reliable and readily available information in order to review changes in government employment levels in order to question ministers about what that means for public services to Canadians,” said Ryan.

“This tool provides them with objective, timely data that they can use to support their work.”

The Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer found that 9,809 of the workers lost were term employees. About 7,880 were permanent employees, while 3,203 were students and 2,889 were casual employees.

The federal government launched an early retirement program as part of its efforts to cut the number of public servants.

The government received 10,006 applications and, as of this month, more than 9,400 were found to have met the criteria.

The latest possible retirement date under the early retirement program is Jan. 20, 2027.

Martin Potvin, a spokesperson for the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, said in an email that there are no plans to open a second early retirement application window.

As federal public servants face job cuts, many are also navigating challenges with new return-to-office rules.

Thousands of federal public servants started a new work schedule in July requiring them to be on-site in the office four days a week, though a lack of office space is delaying the return for some departments.

Michèle LaRose, a spokesperson for Public Services and Procurement Canada, said about 10 per cent of public servants aren’t able to return to the office under the new rules.

“At present, existing office space capacity can accommodate approximately 90 per cent of public servants on-site four days a week (five days for executives), through a combination of assigned and unassigned workstations,” she said. “Based on current information, this proportion is expected to increase to approximately 95 per cent by March 31, 2027.”

LaRose said organizations are implementing the rules based on available space and, in some cases, departments have phased in implementation for certain groups of employees.

LaRose also said that 266 federal co-working sites are being assigned to federal organizations to meet their space requirements and support increased on-site presence.

Sites are being assigned to the Canada Revenue Agency, National Defence, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada.

“As a common service provider, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) will continue to work with organizations to optimize existing office space and provide additional accommodations where needed, as quickly as possible,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2026.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press