Treasury Board President Shafqat Ali says the federal government hasn't worked out details of its plans to cut the bureaucracy and boost the amount of time public servants spend in the office.
Ali said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press the government is still finalizing its workforce adjustment and return-to-office plans.
Hundreds of federal employees have been warned they may lose their jobs as the government moves to shrink the public service, and many departments have told staff news on job cuts will come in the new year.
Ottawa is looking to cut program spending and administration costs by about $60 billion over the next five years through what it calls a "comprehensive expenditure review."
The latest federal budget said the exercise will involve "restructuring operations and consolidating internal services." It said it also will deploy workforce adjustment and attrition to return the size of the public service to "a more sustainable level."
Ali did not answer when asked how many people have been told already that they will be let go, and how many will get the news in the new year.
"I believe is this is the best public service we have in the world and I want to be mindful of the livelihood of the people," he said.
The federal government plans to cut the number of public service positions by about 40,000 from a peak of 368,000 in 2023-24. About 10,000 jobs have been eliminated from the federal public service over the last year.
The federal plan will see a reduction of 1,000 executive positions over the next two years and a 20 per cent cut to spending on management and consulting services over three years.
Ali said the government's focus is on finding savings and reassigning resources to areas that matter most to Canadians — such as home construction, defence and the RCMP.
Ali said the government has sent letters about its planned early retirement program to almost 68,000 public servants who may be eligible, and it will see how many put their hands up before proceeding with the workforce adjustment process.
The government says it's trying to boost the rate of attrition and avoid cutting younger staff by allowing older workers to retire earlier without incurring a pension penalty.
The budget said the government would introduce the early retirement program as soon as January. Legislation is required to make that happen and Ali did not say when it might be introduced.
The minister also had little to say about the promised return-to-office plan, noting that conversations have been taking place within government but "nothing has been finalized."
Prime Minister Mark Carney said this month his government's plan to get public servants to spend more time in the office would come into "sharper view" over the next several weeks.
Carney offered few clues about his thinking on the issue. He did say the amount of time public servants will be expected to spend in the office will be set at different levels, depending on individual roles and seniority.
Remote work rules have been an ongoing issue in the public service since COVID-19 forced most federal workers to work from home in 2020. After public health restrictions began to ease, the federal government moved in 2023 to have workers return to the office two to three days a week.
The current rule, in place since September 2024, requires public servants to work a minimum of three days a week in-office, with executives in office four days per week.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
