{"id":465038,"date":"2026-02-10T03:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T03:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/465038\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T03:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T03:44:13","slug":"transport-canada-job-cuts-could-lead-to-public-safety-risks-union-warns-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/465038\/","title":{"rendered":"Transport Canada job cuts could lead to public safety risks, union warns &#8211; National"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A federal union is warning of threats to public safety as employees at <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/tag\/transport-canada\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Transport Canada<\/a> face job cuts.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/70c8fc80.png\" alt=\"\" style=\"position:absolute;width:1px;height:1px\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Union of Canadian Transportation Employees said in a news release the cuts are being implemented in a way that \u201cplaces Canadians at increased risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The union said it\u2019s particularly concerned about the prospect of staffing reductions related to inspection services and the transportation of dangerous goods. It\u2019s not clear yet which positions will be affected.<\/p>\n<p>The union argued years of under-resourcing have left inspectors stretched thin and that further administrative cuts will limit their members\u2019 capacity to carry out work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not trying to cause panic,\u201d said the union\u2019s national president Teresa Eschuk. \u201cBut when oversight roles are cut and those responsible for compliance are stretched beyond their limits, the consequences can be catastrophic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Insult added to injury? Canada\u2019s public servants ordered back to office amid looming cuts'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SAT_GN_PIPER_SITE_THUMB_060226.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"   data-\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:09<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInsult added to injury? Canada\u2019s public servants ordered back to office amid looming cuts\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Eschuk said \u201cCanadians remember Lac-M\u00e9gantic\u201d \u2014 a reference to the rail disaster that struck in 2013 when a train of oil-laden cars derailed and exploded in the heart of the Quebec town. Forty-seven people were killed in the disaster.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"170\" height=\"225\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767930311_275_national.jpg\" alt=\"Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tGet daily National news<\/p>\n<p>Get the day&#8217;s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur members work every day to prevent that kind of tragedy. They need support, not secrecy,\u201d said Eschuk.<\/p>\n<p>Departments and agencies across the public service have started notifying staff of coming job cuts as the government looks to cut program spending and administrative costs by about $60 billion over the next five years through its \u201ccomprehensive expenditure review.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\tTrending Now\n\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11659404\/air-canada-suspends-flights-cuba-feb-2026\/\" class=\"c-posts__inner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-posts__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770695052_825_CP174878769.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"336\" height=\"224\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\tAir Canada suspends all flights to Cuba, effective immediately\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11660212\/trump-gordie-howe-bridge\/\" class=\"c-posts__inner\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-posts__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770695053_336_40392d9c4bf46c8654ad33a9c7071d45a7c9f52bfee2de9e17949d1020ccef1c.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"336\" height=\"224\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\tTrump threatens to block opening of Gordie Howe International Bridge\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The review will see the elimination of about 40,000 public service jobs \u2014 out of a peak workforce of 368,000 in 2023-24 \u2014 and 1,000 executive positions over the next two years.<\/p>\n<p>A government website providing data on workforce reductions shows the government is currently targeting a reduction of 439 employee positions and 27 executive positions at Transport Canada through the workforce adjustment or career transition processes.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Treasury Board data indicates the department had 6,666 employees as of the end of March 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The union said Transport Canada is also undertaking a structural reorganization to reduce its five administrative regions to three. It said there is little communication about the implications for regional operations.<\/p>\n<p>The union said it\u2019s calling for the immediate reversal of proposed cuts affecting inspection and oversight of dangerous goods and a pause on further reorganization.<\/p>\n<p>The Canadian Press has reached out to Transport Canada for comment but has not yet received a response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis isn\u2019t just about jobs \u2014 it\u2019s about the health of our members and the safety of Canadians,\u201d said Eschuk. \u201cTransport Canada has a duty of care. It\u2019s time they start acting like it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore on Canada<br \/>\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t&amp;copy 2026 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A federal union is warning of threats to public safety as employees at Transport Canada face job cuts.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465039,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,1849,295,37523,714,66,48757],"class_list":{"0":"post-465038","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-consumer","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-job-cuts","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-transport-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}