TORONTO – More than a thousand fewer jobs in the public sector in the next weeks: both Service Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), in fact, have announced significant staff cuts “to ensure sound fiscal management” of the two agencies.
By the end of June, approximately 800 jobs will be eliminated at the “Passports” office of Service Canada which is reducing its staff in anticipation of a decline in requests for such documents. And according to what the Ministry of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) siad to CTV, these are temporary employees located in offices across Canada.
“This decision was necessary and not taken lightly – said an ESDC spokesperson – : As a federal department, ESDC has an obligation to ensure sound fiscal management throughout the organization based on forecasted workload volumes. Revenues must be balanced with costs, including costs for employee salaries…”.
Also according to the spokesperson, Service Canada is continuously evaluating staffing levels to “align with forecasted volumes, to ensure adequate staffing capacity for processing. As a cost recovery program, Service Canada’s workforce levels for the Passport Program is being aligned as of the end of June 2025 to a decreased volume of passport applications now being forecasted by IRCC for 2025-26” the spokesperson said.
Nationally, approximately 800 term employees will be impacted by the reduced passport application forecast, and since Service Canada serves Canadians in every province and territory across Canada, impacted employees are located throughout the national network. “All impacted employees are currently being notified and are being provided direct support” the spokesperosn added.
A few hours earlier, another announcement of job cuts in the federal public sector had arrived: the Canada Revenue Agency, CRA, informed its employees that up to 280 positions would be eliminated as part of “workforce adjustments” with cuts primarily affecting positions in Ottawa and Gatineau.
A number of factors have impacted CRA’s budget in recent years, including the shutdown of COVID-19 funding, which forced Cra to reassess the size of its workforce.
Early last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney released his mandate letter, outlining seven priorities: the seventh priority on the list was “spending less on government operations so that Canadians can invest more in the people and businesses that will build the strongest economy in the G7…”.
Moreover, the Liberal Party program published during the federal election campaign also included a “comprehensive review of government spending in order to increase the federal government‘s productivity”. In this case… promise kept.
In the pic: Service Canada in Newmarket (from https://offices.service.canada.ca/en/Office/3594)
