As anxiety rises among members about Work Force Adjustment (WFA) and more departments announce WFAs, we would like to draw your attention to the Department of National Defence (DND) and Public Service Commission (PSC) Mobility Initiative.

DND will be hiring thousands of new employees in the coming years to meet government commitments. In cooperation with the PSC, DND has launched a Mobility Initiative to facilitate recruitment from within the federal public service.

DND has identified 8 functional recruitment streams, each associated with specific occupational groups. 

The table below provides links to career pathways corresponding to these groups. You must log in through your GCJobs Account to click on the links below. The links go to an internal government page for the relevant occupational groups, many of which include PIPSC classifications in the RE, IT, CP, NR, SH and SP groups.

DND and the Treasury Board Secretariat have informed us that these positions will be filled through voluntary deployments at level. This is not an alternation platform and is unrelated to alternation and WFA. If individuals are on PSC priority lists, they will receive these deployments first, but we encourage members to apply. 

Budget 2025 was tabled this week, and it confirms much of what we warned about in our “Five Red Flags” analysis. 

Simply put: behind the language of “discipline” and “modernization” lurks the most significant downsizing of Canada’s public service since the 1990s – with 40, 000 positions being eliminated by 2028.

While it is not yet clear what exactly will get cut, it is clear that cuts will result in losses of key public goods, particularly in environmental monitoring, data collection, and applied research.

This is not what we wanted, and not what Canadians wanted. 

Where we wanted to see efficiency, we are seeing erosion of services. Where we wanted to see strategic investment, we are seeing slashing of capacity. 

The public service is being sacrificed as a quick fix, and it will cost Canadians.

Canadians want their government to spend wisely, and public service professionals agree. But when you eliminate the people who inspect food, deliver benefits, protect data, and track wildfires, you’re not cutting waste. You’re increasing risk.

Here’s how the budget’s promises are playing out in practice, and what it means for Public Service Commission members and Canadians.

“Efficiency” language hides the cost of real cuts

What’s branded as “modernization” is, in reality, cuts, reduced capacity and service loss. Phrases like “reduced overlap,” “streamlining,” and “program consolidation” sound prudent, but are euphemisms for program cuts that risk creating gaps where no one is accountable.

Cuts like the ones proposed in Budget 2025 disrupt workflows, break mentorship chains, and scatter institutional memory – and lead to slower services and more inefficiency.

Without a plan to transfer expertise or train replacements, institutional knowledge simply disappears. Attrition is often framed as painless, but with one in ten jobs being eliminated, we know many of us are going to feel the impacts.

The language of efficiency masks the disappearance of capacity: fewer food safety inspections, slower emergency responses, weaker disease monitoring. Canadians will pay the price.

While the budget didn’t outline where every job, service or program will be cut, it did outline where we can expect some: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada will close its Agricultural Climate Solutions Living Labs. The Canadian Space Agency faces $41 million in unexplained cuts. Public Services and Procurement Canada will see reduced funding for Laboratories Canada pilot projects. And while the Canada Border Services Agency plans to hire 1,000 new officers, it will simultaneously cut training budgets — undermining the effectiveness of those very hires.

These are not efficiency measures. They are dismantling the infrastructure of public service piece by piece, and creating conditions for chaos not a fast, effective federal public service.

Artificial Intelligence as a “quick fix” with long-term consequences

Artificial Intelligence plays a prominent but uneven role in Budget 2025. While the government touts cuts to “management and consulting services,” most AI and digital work still falls under professional-services contracts that depend heavily on private IT vendors.

While we welcome the “Made in Canada” tech solutions in this budget, it does not necessarily mean “made by Canadian public servants.”  We need to ensure public ownership in any new AI infrastructure to safeguard Canadian data and ensure public control and accountability.

The budget also provides little clarity on how these new initiatives will affect public-sector jobs or internal capacity. Labour must be part of AI governance to ensure protection, transparency and accountability. Unions need to be consulted at every step of the way, which is why we continue to call for a seat on the government’s AI advisory committee that currently only includes science and business voices. 

Finally, making investments in AI while cutting tens of thousands of public sector jobs is more than just a contradiction, it sets the country up to fail. We cannot build sovereign technology if we dismantle the workforce meant to run it. Algorithms and AI bots cannot replace professional judgment of human experts. 

We know that rushed automation leads to errors, delays, and costly failures. We are still living with the impacts of the CRA’s audit automation problems and the Phoenix pay system debacle.

Unless AI initiatives are paired with investment in in-house training and hiring, they will expand outsourcing rather than reduce it.

AI should be a tool to strengthen the public service, not a shortcut that weakens it.

An increase in costly outsourcing

Budget 2025 claims it will “cut back” on private consultants, but the government’s own numbers tell a different story. Outsourcing has doubled since pre-pandemic levels, and by the government’s own estimates, spending on professional services is projected to hit $26.1 billion this year – a 37% increase from last year and a record high.

We’ve heard this pledge before: past governments vowed to curb contracting costs and never came close. Even if this government’s promised 20% reduction bucks the trend and materializes, outsourcing spending would still be approximately double what it was 10 years ago. 

This isn’t fiscal discipline. It is dependence on private firms that charge up to 26% more than equivalent public service staff. Every taxpayer dollar spent on private consultants is a dollar not spent on building internal public expertise.

The result is a hollowed-out public service forced to rent back the very skills it once had in-house. That’s not efficient. That's a waste.

It doesn’t need to be this way. When the government needed to act fast during the pandemic, public servants built CERB in just six weeks. This was inarguably faster and cheaper than any private firm could have done. That’s what real efficiency looks like. When public service professionals are trusted to lead, we deliver. 

If this government truly wants to make cuts for cost savings, it should start by going after the $26 billion outsourcing bill, not the wildfire analyst, public health scientist, or engineer who keep Canadians safe.

Neglecting science and evidence

Starving public science undermines both safety and sovereignty. Budget 2025 is eerily silent on direct funding for federal science and research laboratories. There are no line items showing investment in departmental research facilities, technical programs, or the scientific workforce — even though we have been clear for years that this funding is desperately needed. There is also no mention of scientific integrity or evidence-based policy — a troubling retreat from earlier commitments.

Instead Budget 2025 threatens to cut more from Canada’s federal science and research capacity. While the specifics of the cuts are yet to be delivered, Budget 2025 included some departmental programs that will be affected: Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, among others. Meanwhile, private-sector R&D continues to receive support while public science is left to attrition.

Public science takes decades to build and seconds to cut – and consequences will be felt far beyond laboratories. They will show up in slower wildfire response, fewer food inspections, and weaker disease monitoring. 

PIPSC’s latest report, A Science Roadmap for Canada’s Future, paints a stark picture: only 6.5 percent of scientists say their department has adequate research funding; confidence in evidence-based policymaking has dropped to 44 percent; and 36 percent of federal labs are in poor or critical condition. Reports of political interference in research are rising.

Public science is already starving for resources and needs investment to stay resilient. More cuts could deliver a devastating blow — not just to scientists, but to every Canadian who relies on their work.

Forgetting the bigger picture

You can’t build a strong Canada by weakening what holds it together. What’s being cut in this budget isn’t red tape; it’s the connective tissue that keeps programs coordinated and accountable. PIPSC members are the quiet force behind Canada’s strength: scientists, engineers, auditors, computer specialists, and policy experts who make government work.

Promises of “doing things faster, simpler, better” cannot be achieved with reduced capacity, capped training, and shrinking professional development. If we truly want a government that works faster, simpler, and better, we have to start by keeping — and supporting — the people who know how it works.

Public servants already know where inefficiencies lie: poor planning, outdated systems, and costly outsourcing. They are ready to fix them. But instead of being empowered to modernize, they are being sidelined by short-term savings targets.

Without a plan, cuts will create a revolving door of quick fixes and lost knowledge. Once that expertise is gone, rebuilding it will take years. Canadians will feel the effects through slower services, weaker oversight, and less preparedness when crises hit.

The path forward 

Canadians want their government to spend wisely, and public servants share that goal. But efficiency without capacity is fragility.

The smarter path forward is clear:

• Strengthen the public service without deep cuts.
• Rein in wasteful outsourcing and rebuild internal expertise.
• Adopt AI responsibly and with transparency.
• Reinvest in evidence-based decision-making and scientific integrity.
• Focus on long-term problem-solving, not short-term optics.

We are calling on Members of Parliament to look closely at what’s being cut and who will pay the price. MPs must not simply rubber-stamp this budget. They must ask hard questions about how these decisions will affect their communities and Canada’s ability to respond to future crises.

So-called “efficiency” cannot come at the expense of the safety, stability, and public services that hold this country together. 

Ottawa, November 4, 2025  – The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) warns that today’s federal budget cuts, which aim to cut upwards of 40,000 public sector jobs, go far beyond “efficiency” and will hit critical services Canadians count on every day. 

Canadians want their government to spend wisely, and public service professionals agree. But when you eliminate the people who inspect food, deliver benefits, protect data, and track wildfires, you’re not cutting waste – you’re increasing risk.

“Canadians expect efficiency, not erosion,” said Sean O’Reilly, President of PIPSC. “Behind every cut is a service delay, a slower emergency response, or a system that’s one failure away from crisis. These cuts don’t make us leaner –  they make us more fragile.”

Public service professionals are the experts who protect our data, manage emergencies, track disease outbreaks, and maintain the systems Canadians rarely see but rely on every day. Reducing their capacity doesn’t just shrink government – it erodes Canada’s resilience.

“We share the goal of a more effective, innovative public service. But you can’t do more with less. True efficiency means smarter investment, not defunding services,” continued O’Reilly.

At the same time, the government continues to pour record amounts into outsourcing work to private consultants: $26 billion projected for this year alone, the highest on record according to its own main estimates. While the budget makes a vague commitment to a modest reduction in outsourcing, PIPSC notes that similar promises have come and gone without real results. It’s an approach that still doesn’t add up.

“It’s not efficient to replace experienced public servants with expensive consultants who cost 25% more than a public service professional,” said O’Reilly. “If the goal is savings, start with the billions going to private firms – not the food safety inspector or public health scientist.”

Public service professionals understand where the real inefficiencies lie – poor planning, outdated systems, a lack of trust and consultation with public service experts, and an overreliance on wasteful outsourcing.

“Empower public servants to modernize from within,” O’Reilly concluded. “Let the professionals lead. That’s how you get real efficiency — without slashing services Canadians rely on.”

PIPSC represents over 85,000 public-sector professionals across the country, most of them employed by the federal government. Follow us on Facebook, on X (formerly known as Twitter) and on Instagram.

- 30 -

For more information: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (mobile)

OTTAWA, November 3, 2025 — Sean O’Reilly, President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), will be available for comment on how Budget 2025 could impact Canada’s public service and the programs Canadians rely on.

“With talk of restraint and ‘efficiencies’ dominating the pre-budget conversation, public service professionals are right to be concerned,” said O’Reilly. “We’ve seen how cuts disguised as modernization can quietly weaken the public services Canadians depend on. This budget must strengthen—not shrink—the capacity of our public service.”

PIPSC will be watching Budget 2025 closely for five red flags:

1. “Efficiency” language that hides real cuts
2. Artificial Intelligence as a “quick fix”
3. An increase in costly outsourcing
4. Neglecting science and evidence
5. Forgetting the bigger picture

“Canadians deserve a public service that’s ready to meet today’s challenges—from food safety to cybersecurity to climate adaptation,” O’Reilly added. “That requires investment, not more cuts.”

PIPSC has outlined these priorities in its 2025 pre-budget submission and will provide rapid analysis following the budget’s release.

What: President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada available for comment on Budget 2025
Where: In person, by phone or by Zoom
When: November 4, 2025 (day of budget) or in advance, upon request
Who: Sean O’Reilly, President, PIPSC

PIPSC represents over 85,000 public-sector professionals across the country, most of them employed by the federal government. Follow us on Facebook, on X (formerly known as Twitter) and on Instagram.

- 30 -

For more information: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (mobile), jfillion@pipsc.ca

In a deeply disappointing move - and to avoid good faith bargaining - the Premier of Alberta has used the notwithstanding clause to force Alberta's 51,000 teachers back to work. This is a dangerous precedent that will impact workers across the country. 

Collective bargaining rights are under attack. 

The notwithstanding clause is part of our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and in Alberta the Alberta Bill of Rights and Alberta Human Rights Act. This clause is intended for emergency situations. The notwithstanding clause allows governments to circumvent the legal framework of the Charter's rights, primarily fundamental freedoms, legal rights and equality rights.

In this case, the notwithstanding clause was utilized to strip the Alberta Teachers Association of their bargaining rights.

Premier Smith has weaponized legislation that is intended to protect citizens. Legislating teachers back to work, stripping them of their bargaining rights is a direct attack on students, families and the teachers who keep the education system functioning. 

This legislation means Alberta Teachers have zero bargaining power for a period of at least five years and are subject to a contract they strongly rejected.This action has a chilling effect on labour rights and is widely seen as a significant overreach of power. 

While the strike is over - classrooms in Alberta remain overcrowded, under supported and without the critical funds needed. Teachers’ wages have lagged behind inflation rates for far too long and they are asked to do more with less on a daily basis. Worse still - teachers have been silenced and democracy has been challenged. 

ATA President Jason Schilling noted that  “Teachers will comply with the law, but make no mistake—compliance is not consent. The Association will fight this abuse of power with every tool the law provides and every ounce of conviction we possess.”

PIPSC proudly stands in solidarity with the Alberta Teachers’ Associate, the Alberta Federation of Labour and the Canadian Labour Congress. As a labour movement we must stand up for our right to bargain, strike and organize. 

We encourage you to show your solidarity too. Visit the ATA’s website and take action today. 

Support Alberta’s Teachers

All Canadians must push back against this devastating overstep. 

We recognize that future job actions could further impact parents, including our members, across the province. PIPSC will ensure members are aware of their rights and how to show support. Employers are required to consider accommodation requests on a case by case basis. 

If you require support, please reach out to your local stewards.

The federal government is expected to table its next budget on November 4, against the backdrop of a comprehensive expenditure review proposing the deepest cuts to the federal public service in generations.

These reductions – expected to be announced or deepened in this budget – come on top of hiring freezes, delayed replacements, and program slowdowns already underway across departments. Framed as “discipline” and “efficiency,” the cuts risk hollowing out the very systems Canadians rely on: from food safety to emergency response to digital security.

Here are five red flags to watch for in Budget 2025 – and why they matter for Canada’s future.

1. “Efficiency” language that hides real cuts

When governments talk about “program reviews,” “attrition,” or “streamlining,” they want Canadians to picture cutting red tape – not fewer food inspections, slower responses to wildfires, or weaker disease monitoring. 

The truth is, when government cuts go too deep, it’s not inefficiency that’s eliminated – it’s the people and services that Canadians rely on, often without realizing it.

Reducing the size of the public service workforce won’t magically create operational efficiencies, just like replacing the Phoenix pay system with different software didn't magically fix the government’s inability to pay its employees correctly or on time.

Public service professionals know where the issues are – poor planning, outdated systems, costly outsourcing, and layers of management that make it hard to get anything done – and are ready to be part of the solution.  

2. Artificial Intelligence as a “quick fix” with long-term consequences 

We all want the government to innovate. But when “AI-driven efficiency” becomes code for replacing people instead of enhancing services and jobs, Canadians lose out: broken systems, wasted money, and public harm. 

Automating decisions about benefits, inspections, or compliance without proper oversight risks errors and inequities. Responsible AI means publicly built, transparent AI systems guided by professionals, not privatized tools developed by multinational vendors with no accountability.

If the government wants to make technology work for Canadians, it must invest in public capacity to design, test, and govern these tools. It cannot use AI as a “quick fix” cover to justify cuts that damage the quality of public services Canadians rely on.

3. An increase in costly outsourcing 

While the government speaks about efficiency and discipline, it has become overly dependent on wasteful and unnecessary outsourcing. Outsourcing on professional services is projected to hit a record $26 billion this fiscal year – the highest on record. That’s money flowing to private consultants instead of building the in-house capacity Canadians actually need.

This unchecked growth carries a big cost, exposing taxpayers to runaway budgets and minimal accountability. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has shown that contractors cost 22–25.7% more compared to equivalent in-house professionals. This practice is unacceptable for a government that’s trying to find savings and reduce inefficiency while cutting full-time public sector jobs. If the federal government wants real savings, reducing outsourcing is the place to start.

4. Neglecting science and evidence

From tracking wildfires to testing clean water, public scientists are essential to keeping Canadians safe. But after years of under-investment, many departments are already stretched to the breaking point.

Any further cuts could jeopardize Canada’s readiness for health emergencies, environmental monitoring, and food safety. Persistent issues – like political interference, inadequate staffing, and barriers to open communication – remain unaddressed in many departments.

Protecting science means stable funding, modern labs, and freedom to share research findings — not another round of restrictions or silence.

For more, see our latest report on the state of federal science and why renewed investment is critical to Canada’s resilience.

5. Forgetting the bigger picture

As economist Jim Stanford of the Centre for Future Work reminds us, this is “not an ordinary federal budget.” This is the moment to defend what keeps Canada strong and independent – not dismantle it. 

Public servants are Canada’s first line of defence against risk – tracking wildfires, ensuring safe food and medicine, securing our digital systems, and keeping the economy steady when crisis hits. Investing in them means investing in a safer, more self-reliant Canada.

What Canadians actually need

• Strengthen the public service without deep cuts
• Rein in wasteful outsourcing and rebuild internal expertise
• Adopt AI responsibly
• Reinvest in evidence-based decision making and scientific integrity
• Focus on long-term problem solving, not band-aid solutions

Public servants are part of the solution: they know where improvements can be made. What they need is support to do their jobs, not slogans about doing “more with less.”

Cutting won’t build resilience. Strengthening public services will.

The Auditor General’s report on CRA call centres, released October 22, is a clear warning sign. 

• 10,000 CRA jobs eliminated since 2024
• Call centre agents cut from 7,800 to 3,500
• Only 5% of June calls answered within standard
• Less than 30 minutes of training per agent per year
• 17% accuracy rate on basic tax questions 
• Complaints up 145%

This report makes it clear: cuts compromise the quality of services Canadians count on – resulting in longer wait times, reduced access to vital information, and growing frustration for those who need help.

CRA agents are professionals who want to help Canadians, but they’re being set up to fail by political decisions beyond their control. When professional capacity is slashed, training is eliminated, and expertise is replaced with algorithms, services break down, and the public pays the price.

In response, the government has pointed to more AI and general commitments to improve, rather than committing to the report’s main takeaway: align staffing levels with demand.

Canadians want to speak with a real person – someone who understands their situation and can offer trusted information. The solution isn’t more AI or automated bots that leave people feeling frustrated and disconnected.

This is a reminder that today’s service failures are the result of previous rounds of cuts. And now, the federal government is asking Canadians to brace for more – with its 15% reductions planned in the upcoming budget, the deepest public service cuts in generations.

Cuts already made are slowing services and making it harder for Canadians to get the support they need. The government faces a clear choice: strengthen public services by investing in them, or compromise them even further. 

OTTAWA, October 20, 2025 — A new report released today by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), the union representing the scientists, researchers and engineers working for the federal government, highlights significant warning signs in Canada’s federal public science system – and urges renewed investment to ensure long-term resilience, not more cuts.

A Science Roadmap for Canada’s Future: Lessons from a Decade of Federal Scientists’ Voices, draws on 12 years of data from thousands of federal scientists and reveals a sector losing funding, capacity, and confidence – just when Canadians need it most.

“Federal science plays a quiet but essential role in everything from food safety to water quality to environmental monitoring to public health,” said PIPSC President Sean O’Reilly. “This report is a clear warning: our federal scientific capacity is fragile, already under pressure, and can’t take another hit.” 

Among the report’s findings:

• Just 6.5% believe their department has adequate research funding
• Confidence in evidence-based policy has declined to 44%
• 36% of federal laboratories and science facilities are in poor or critical condition
• Interference (requests to alter or omit findings for non-scientific reasons) is on the rise

PIPSC warns that early gains in science integrity and transparency made in the aftermath of a decade of muzzling and mismanagement, are now stalling or reversing. At the same time, the government is floating plans for sweeping public service cuts, threatening what little resilience remains in Canada’s scientific infrastructure. PIPSC is urging the government to reflect carefully.

“Cuts mean consequences that won’t just be felt in labs – they’ll be felt in communities,” continued O’Reilly. “Defunding federal science means slower responses to wildfires, fewer food inspections, weaker disease monitoring, and delayed action on environmental threats. These cuts hit the systems Canadians rely on every day, often without even realizing it.”

The report outlines a 10-point plan focused on strengthening scientific integrity, rebuilding capacity, and ensuring transparency and accountability in how scientific evidence is used in policymaking.

“Fixing inefficiencies means tackling what’s really holding public science back — unstable funding, political interference, inconsistent priorities, costly outsourcing, and outdated infrastructure,” said O’Reilly. “Public science takes decades to build and seconds to cut. In a time of global instability, we should be strengthening the institutions that make Canada strong, safe, and independent — not weakening them.”

PIPSC is calling on the federal government to reverse course on public service cuts and commit to long-term, sustainable funding for federal science.

PIPSC represents over 85,000 public-sector professionals across the country, most of them employed by the federal government. Follow us on Facebook, on X (formerly known as Twitter) and on Instagram.

-30-

For more information: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (mobile)