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<\/p>\nFederal departments and agencies are looking to cut more than 12,000 full-time equivalent jobs over the next three years as part of the Carney government\u2019s spending review.<\/p>\n
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That figure comes from plans released by federal departments and agencies for 2026-27 outlining how they\u2019ll shed billions of dollars to meet the government\u2019s cost-cutting targets.<\/p>\n
Multiple part-time positions can make up one full-time equivalent position.<\/p>\n
Rola Salem, spokesperson for the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, said departments were asked to include in their reports details about the savings for each fiscal year until 2028-29.<\/p>\n
That included a description of how the savings would be achieved, the number of reductions in full-time equivalent positions and any measures that weren\u2019t included in the last budget.<\/p>\n
Among the expected job losses are 1,793 positions at Public Services and Procurement Canada, 900 jobs at Statistics Canada and 942 at Health Canada.<\/p>\n
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While the plans were supposed to offer clarity on how programs will be affected by the spending review, some departments offered only vague commitments to \u201cstreamline\u201d services or \u201cmodernize\u201d operations. Others said they were still figuring out where to find savings.<\/p>\n
Several departments and agencies offered more concrete details of their plans.<\/p>\n
They include the Canadian Space Agency, which said it plans to terminate work on the LEAP Lunar Rover Mission.<\/p>\n
The Canada Revenue Agency said it plans to wind down business units that are no longer connected to government priorities, like the units that processed the Digital Services Tax and consumer carbon pricing.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it\u2019s reducing \u201cnon-core research activities\u201d and consolidating laboratory services to focus on essential testing and avoid the need for costly upgrades.<\/p>\n
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It says it\u2019s also decommissioning some vehicle washing stations and winding down functions that are no longer required to address health risks linked to the trade in pets.<\/p>\n
Environment and Climate Change Canada says it\u2019s reducing the Low Carbon Economy Fund and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada says it\u2019s winding down some programs outside of its core mandate, like the Agricultural Climate Solution Living Labs program.<\/p>\n
The plan for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces says the military will retire selected fleets that are nearing the end of their service lives, face rising sustainment costs or are no longer align with operational requirements. It says it will also sell off or lease \u201cunderutilized, obsolete or surplus\u201d properties.<\/p>\n
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Library and Archives Canada says it\u2019s gradually reducing Access to Information and Privacy functions and the proactive review of historical records functions over a three-year period. It\u2019s also discontinuing funding for the Documentary Heritage Communities Program.<\/p>\n
Public Services and Procurement Canada says it\u2019s winding down the activities of the Canada General Standards Board and reducing funding for Laboratories Canada.<\/p>\n
Several departments \u2014 including Shared Services Canada, the Department of Justice, Public Services and Procurement Canada and Public Safety Canada \u2014 outlined plans to use artificial intelligence to increase efficiency or improve service delivery.<\/p>\n
David McLaughlin, former president and CEO of the Institute on Governance, said the plans offer \u201cbroad strokes\u201d of the impacts of the spending review. He said while the documents offer \u201csome transparency\u201d about the review, more details are needed.<\/p>\n
He said those details will come either from a separate document from the Department of Finance or Treasury Board or from questioning by opposition parties.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou can\u2019t tell \u2026 at this moment, at this stage, what will be the actual impact of that in terms of a service on the ground to certain people, certain demographics or in certain regions,\u201d said McLaughlin. \u201cIt\u2019s going to have to come through the detailed committee hearings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Appearing before the House committee on government operations this month, Secretary of the Treasury Board Bill Matthews said departments and agencies were told to target programs and activities that were underperforming, overlapped with other programs or were not aligned with government priorities.<\/p>\n
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Michael Wernick, former clerk of the Privy Council, said the departmental plans \u201cset the table\u201d for parliamentary review.<\/p>\n
He said members of Parliament will be trying to \u201csqueeze out more detail\u201d during committee meetings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe game to be played this year is the opposition will be trying to suss out details on what\u2019s being cut, or in some cases augmented, looking for nuggets that they can go after and criticize,\u201d Wernick said.<\/p>\n
Conservative MP and Treasury Board critic Stephanie Kusie said the documents offer \u201cno clear road map for the departments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve updated the (full-time equivalent) numbers, but it\u2019s not clear as to line by line how they\u2019re going to achieve this within each department,\u201d she said. \u201cEven though there is a decrease in the full-time equivalents, we\u2019re still seeing an increase in spending.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kusie said it\u2019s \u201cconcerning\u201d that some departmental reports lack details about which programs and services will be affected by cuts. She said she expected more detailed information and a clearer path, given that departments have had months since the release of the budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes me wonder, do they know what they\u2019re doing or are they\u2019re not quite certain as of yet?\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m worried about it for transparency.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely think after reviewing these plans that it merits more specific questions to departments.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Federal unions are sounding the alarm over the planned job cuts. Public Service Alliance of Canada national president Sharon DeSousa said the cuts aren\u2019t about efficiency but are an \u201cattack on the public service itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy eliminating thousands of jobs, the government is weakening the very programs people in Canada rely on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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