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Federal public service has lost 23,000 staffers in two years: budget watchdog report
The watchdog’s new tracker says 9,505 workers were cut in one year, with most losses hitting permanent positions.
- On Tuesday, Sept 15, 2026, the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer released a tracker estimating 344,970 federal employees in the second quarter, down 6.5 per cent from two years earlier after shedding more than 23,000 staffers.
- Government efforts to shrink the public service, as outlined in Budget 2025, drove this contraction through an early retirement program that processed more than 9,400 successful applications from 10,006 submissions.
- Parliamentary Budget Officer Annette Ryan noted that 90 per cent of job cuts over the last year eliminated permanent positions, marking a shift from earlier reductions that targeted term, casual, and student workers.
- Employment and Social Development Canada cut 3,221 workers, the largest reduction, while National Defence and the Canadian Space Agency each grew their headcounts, creating divergent staffing patterns across departments.
- Ryan designed the tracker to provide parliamentarians with objective, timely data to review employment changes and question Ministers about the impact of these workforce reductions on public services to Canadians.
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Permanent jobs made up 90 per cent of public service cuts over last year: PBO
About 90 per cent of federal public service job cuts over the last year eliminated permanent positions, according to the government's budget watchdog, marking a shift from earlier cuts concentrated among temporary workers.
·Ottawa, Canada
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Winnipeg Free Press+26 Reposted by 26 other sources
Federal public service has lost 23,000 staffers in two years: budget watchdog report
OTTAWA - The federal public service has shed more than 23,000 staffers over the last two years, says Canada's parliamentary spending watchdog.
·Winnipeg, Canada
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Total News Sources36
Leaning Left18Leaning Right2Center11Last UpdatedBias Distribution58% Left
Bias Distribution
- 58% of the sources lean Left
58% Left
L 58%
C 36%
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