Applications for federal public service jobs drop by almost 30 per cent
Job ads fell almost 40% and promotions dropped 52% as the Liberal government moves to cut about 40,000 public service positions.
- Applications for federal government jobs in Ottawa plummeted nearly 30% last year, falling to less than 735,000 from over a million two years ago.
- The Liberal government's Budget committed to cutting about 40,000 public service positions by April 2029, triggering the hiring slowdown across the capital.
- Government job ads fell almost 40% as departments reduced hiring, while departures including retirements and resignations increased 12%.
- Internal advancement also stalled, with around 52% fewer promotions within the public service in 2025-26 compared to a year earlier.
- Catherine Morrison of The Canadian Press reported these trends, which follow Ottawa's strategic push to reduce the overall size of the public service.
32 Articles
32 Articles
Applications for Federal Public Service Jobs Drop by Almost 30 Percent
The number of people applying for a job in the federal government plummeted last year as Ottawa works to slash the size of the public service. Two years ago, there were more than a million applications for jobs in the federal public service. But between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026, that number fell by nearly 30 percent, to less than 735,000. The number of job ads the government posted was also down almost 40 percent, while the number of peo…
The number of candidates for a position in the federal government fell last year, while Ottawa significantly reduced the size of the public service.Two years ago, there were more than one million applications for positions in the federal public service.
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