President of the Treasury Board and Transport Minister Anita Anand rises during Question Period, in Ottawa, Oct. 29. Ms. Anand’s letter said the final details of the current spending review plan will be announced in early 2025 when the government’s main estimates document is tabled in Parliament.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Federal public-sector unions are warning of job and service cuts after Treasury Board President Anita Anand sent a letter to departments asking them to identify internal savings by Nov. 20 as part of a continuing review of federal spending.
Federal departments recently received individualized letters from Ms. Anand with specific targets for spending reductions. The Globe and Mail has obtained a copy of the letter’s general wording but not the specific targets for each department.
Ms. Anand said in the letter that the government is following through on plans identified in the 2024 budget to find operating cost savings totaling $4.2-billion over four years and $1.3-billion each year after.
“These savings are expected to be drawn from operating budgets and through natural attrition to the greatest extent possible. This must be done without impacting programs and services that benefit Canadians and in a way that continues to support a diverse public service workforce,” Ms. Anand wrote in the Oct. 31 letter.
However, two union leaders told The Globe Friday that they received a very different message this week when they were briefed by government officials about the spending review plan.
Sharon DeSousa, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said the government’s messaging seems to have shifted from initially relying on attrition to find labour cost savings by leaving about 5,000 vacant positions unfilled. Instead, she said officials are now discussing cutting back on temporary workers and even moving ahead with workforce adjustments to eliminate full-time positions.
“In the past, we were told this would be done by attrition,” said Ms. DeSousa in an interview, adding that it was “very clear” from the Thursday briefing that the government is now looking at broader job cuts.
“It just makes no sense whatsoever, because there is actually a solution here: They just have to stop the contracting out of work to third-party organizations, which would be a cost savings.”
The size of the federal public service reached 367,772 as of March 31, up 43 per cent from 257,034 in 2015 when the Liberals under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first formed government.
Federal spending on outsourcing has also climbed sharply under the Liberals.
During that time, Canada’s population increased by 15 per cent.
Jennifer Carr, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, also took part in the Thursday afternoon briefing with officials.
Ms. Carr said she agrees with Ms. DeSousa that the government is now looking at job cuts, which she said will inevitably lead to reduced services for Canadians.
“We’re really, really disappointed on behalf of all public-service workers,” she said, adding that her organization is frustrated with the lack of detail provided by government officials as to how the plan will roll out. “Any kind of attrition means there’s going to be less people for the same amount of work. So we really want to know what programs they’re cutting.”
While the government has said it plans to save money by spending less on outsourcing, Ms. Carr said she is not seeing any evidence of that happening.
Ms. Anand’s letter said the final details of the current spending review plan will be announced in early 2025 when the government’s main estimates document is tabled in Parliament.
Myah Tomasi, press secretary to Ms. Anand, said in a statement that the focus remains on finding savings through attrition to the greatest extent possible.
“We understand that during this time, many Canadians, including public servants, may be struggling financially and the thought of losing their job can cause an immense amount of stress. That is why we have been very clear with all departments that to the best extent possible, they must focus on finding these savings without layoffs,” she said.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is expected to release a fall economic statement in the coming weeks.
The government has not yet released the final bottom-line figures for the fiscal year that ended on March 31.
Ms. Freeland had previously said she would keep the deficit for that year below $40-billion, however Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux recently released a report saying the government likely failed to meet that target.