The federal government has begun sending Early Retirement Incentive notices to tens of thousands of public service workers as part of its plan to cut costs on operations.
In an email statement to Daily Hive, a spokesperson for the President of the Treasury Board of Canada said approximately 68,000 early retirement notices have been issued to public servants.
This is a part of the government’s Early Retirement Incentive, which was announced in Budget 2025.
“As proposed in Budget 2025, workforce reductions will be managed to the greatest extent possible through attrition and voluntary departures,” stated Matthieu Perrotin, deputy director of communications for the office of the President of the Treasury Board. “The Early Retirement Incentive is proceeding with an emphasis on voluntary, structured options to retire early with clarity and predictability.”
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Canada is aiming to cut 40,000 public service jobs from their 2024 to 2023 peak of 368,000. By 2028 to 2029, Ottawa hopes to have reduced the number of public servants to roughly 330,000.
“These cuts will mean fewer services for Canadians and more pressure on the workers who deliver them,” said Sharon DeSousa, the national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, in a statement on Nov. 18.
“Families will see delays in getting their old age security, childcare and veteran benefits, more frustration when reaching out to CRA, cutbacks to public health and food safety, and many other signs of a government stepping back at a time they need public services to step up.”
According to the budget, the Early Retirement Incentive program is a voluntary program for public servants at age 50 or above and age 55 or above who have been working for at least 10 years, with at least two years of pensionable service. It would allow these employees to retire earlier without their pensions being penalized.
“Eligible employees will be able to retire with an immediate pension based on years of service with no penalty for early retirement,” stated the federal government.
Ottawa aims to implement the Early Retirement Incentive program Jan. 15, 2026, or when legislation receives Royal Assent. It added that it plans to finish the process within one year.
“We will continue to provide employees with updates on this work and the broader Comprehensive Expenditure Review as they become available,” stated Perrotin.
Earlier this year, we reported on the public service jobs that will be impacted the most by these cuts. According to the report by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives senior economist David Macdonald, the hardest hit public service departments will likely be the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), Employment and Social Development (ESDC), and Citizenship and Immigration (CIC).