The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is expressing alarm over expected job losses in the federal civil service, and warns that Canadians will be the losers for it.Prime Minister Mark Carney campaigned on a promise of “caps, not cuts” to Canada’s federal public service in the last federal election. However, 15% budget cuts were announced as part of a spending review this week.In a press release, PSAC called the cuts "sweeping" and warned they will "look and feel like austerity and will hurt everyone in Canada who depends on vital public services."More than 10,000 federal public service jobs were lost last year alone — many of them PSAC members. Thousands more cuts have already been announced — including at the Canada Revenue Agency and Employment and Social Development Canada. Nearly 2,000 PSAC members have already been given notice their jobs are at risk through "workforce adjustment.".“Canada’s public service isn’t a piggy bank we can dip into whenever the government wants to fund new projects,” said Sharon DeSousa, PSAC National President. “We’ve always been open to working with the government to find savings, but we need a government that is truly willing to work with workers and unions — not around them.” “A strong and united Canada relies on Prime Minister Carney keeping his promise of caps, not cuts. Cutting jobs means cutting services. Full stop. It means longer wait times for passports, parental benefits and EI cheques, shuttered programs, and a government that can’t deliver for people in Canada.” At a briefing this week, PSAC raised its concerns directly with the government. The union pushed for transparency, accountability, and meaningful consultation. .PSAC said they heard: Departments must submit their spending plans by August 28, with no final decisions expected until then. The proposed cuts will be phased in: 7.5% for the 2026–27 fiscal year, up to 2.5% in the second year, and up to 5% in 2028–29 for a total of 15% over three years. These spending reductions are a continuation of the previous government’s Refocusing Government Spending initiative announced last November but halted when Parliament was prorogued. In the press release, the union claimed they're always ready to help the government run more efficiently, as long as it doesn't involve job losses."PSAC has always been ready to help the government find real savings — without gutting the services people rely on. Public service workers know where improvements can be made because we’re the ones doing the work every day," the release explained."Instead of cutting jobs, the government could rein in costly consulting contracts and reverse the expensive and ineffective return-to-office mandate — changes that would save billions without sacrificing service delivery. These are the kinds of practical solutions we’ll be putting forward."DeSousa insisted the union approach is better than what the prime minister has in mind..“Prime Minister Carney has a choice: work alongside workers to strengthen public services and protect good jobs or continue down a path of deep cuts that will hurt workers, hollow out services, and break public trust,” said DeSousa.On June 30, David Macdonald, an economist at the left-leaning Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said reduced contracting would only save $1.2 billion. This would leave most of the other $13 billion in savings from the Liberal platform to come from elsewhere.Given increased military spending commitments, Macdonald says Carney would have to cut program spending spending by $28 billion elsewhere--a 24% cut which would likely axe 90,000 civil service jobs. This would exceed the 18.9% cuts Paul Martin made in 1995, and the 10% cuts that Stephen Harper made in some departments.Another recent analysis, this one by the C.D. Howe institute, said the Liberal platform plus subsequent spending announcements would leave Canada with $310 billion more debt by the end of a full term.
