Community and labour organizations across the country are calling on Canada’s federal parliament to prioritize the interests of working people as it develops an action plan in response to new US tariffs. 

Urgent improvements are needed to Canada’s Employment Insurance (EI) system, as workers face economic hardship due to tariffs from the United States. The Interprovincial EI Working Group developed the EI Roadmap to ensure the government of Canada protects all workers at this time of uncertainty and vulnerability. 

PIPSC endorses the EI Roadmap alongside the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Unifor, the Canadian Labour Congress, and over 100 other organizations and unions across Canada. 

Read the EI Roadmap

With great sadness, we announce the passing of Pascal Sylvester Kirton Joseph on March 9, 2025. Pascal was a dedicated union member and a passionate advocate for workplace fairness and equity. He will be deeply missed by his family, friends and all those whose lives he touched.

Pascal was an active and engaged member of the AFS Group at PIPSC, serving in various leadership roles throughout his career. He contributed significantly to numerous local, regional and national committees, including the Employee Assistance Program, the Union-Management Consultation Team, and the Employment Equity Committee. His dedication to union leadership culminated in his service on the PIPSC Board of Directors, representing the Ontario Region from 2009 to 2010.

Beyond his professional and union contributions, Pascal was known for his warm personality, ability to connect with people, and passion for fostering inclusive workplaces. His legacy of advocacy and leadership will continue to inspire those who follow in his footsteps.

We extend our deepest condolences to Pascal’s family, friends, and colleagues. We honour his years of service and dedication and will always remember his unwavering commitment to the labour movement.

Memories of Pascal and condolences can be shared here.

OTTAWA, March 31, 2025 – The Chalk River Professional Employees Group (CRPEG), represented by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) will be in a legal strike position at 12:01 AM on May 14, 2025. 

“We have been without a collective agreement since January 2024 and our nuclear scientists and engineers are running out of patience," said CRPEG President Jonathan Fitzpatrick. “They have given us the strongest mandate for job action – including a strike – in the history of the Group. Our members deserve fair pay and we are prepared to walk off the job site if that’s what it takes.”

The option of job action remains on the table as the professionals working at the Chalk River campus are considering their options while they prepare for conciliation with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) to resolve a year-long impasse over fair pay, job outsourcing, and working conditions.

"Today, more than ever, we stand united in our commitment to securing fair pay, enhancing working conditions, and protecting our professional work from outsourcing. Fair wages are the foundation for attracting and retaining the highly skilled professionals essential for the Company to consistently deliver top-tier services," stated Mr. Fitzpatrick.

The bargaining team is entering conciliation from April 1 to 3, 2025, with the intent of reaching a negotiated agreement –without a work stoppage– that recognizes the professional work of CRPEG’s nuclear scientists and engineers. 

“We kept CNL strong during ongoing energy and trade challenges. In return, when the increase in the cost of living is high, what the company is offering is effectively a rollback in wages,” CRPEG President Jonathan Fitzpatrick concluded.

The bargaining team is disappointed with the company’s last offer; an offer which prompted the Union to declare impasse on February 6, 2025 and request support from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

PIPSC president, Sean O’Reilly, stated that the union's 75,000 professionals across Canada’s public sector, fully support the 800 scientists and engineers at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ Chalk River campus.

CRPEG members ensure the safe operation of nuclear reactors, and support safe radioactive waste management and environmental remediation projects across Canada. CRPEG members contribute to the health of Canadians through research on nuclear medicine.

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Media contact: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (mobile), jfillion@pipsc.ca

Almost all PIPSC Members are entitled to disability benefits through their workplace disability plan.  More information on your specific plan can be found here.

Members should proactively communicate with their doctor, employer, and benefits provider to ensure benefits are not denied due to late filing.  It is important to respect the deadline to file, which is generally within a few weeks of, in the opinion of your doctor, you becoming unable to work due to your health.

Members are urged to keep their employer and benefits provider informed of their intention to file a claim -  even when paperwork is still coming together.

Members with a denied claim or who are unable to obtain information from their employer can contact pensionsbenefits@pipsc.ca for support.

PIPSC is deeply disappointed by Justice Jocelyne Gagné's decision to dismiss the motion to certify the Black Class Action lawsuit against the federal government. This landmark case, which sought to address decades of systemic discrimination against Black public servants, represented a critical opportunity to acknowledge historical wrongs and create meaningful change within our institutions.

The Federal Court's reasoning that the case "did not sufficiently meet the class action requirement" and that its scope "makes it unfit for a class procedure" fails to recognize the shared experiences of discrimination that have affected countless Black public servants. While the court acknowledges the "profoundly sad ongoing history of discrimination suffered by Black Canadians," this acknowledgment rings hollow without corresponding action.

“Systemic racism requires systemic solutions," said Din I. Kamaldin of the PIPSC Black Caucus. “By dismissing this class action, the court has placed additional barriers in the path of those seeking redress for decades of discrimination.”

"We stand in unwavering solidarity with the Black Class Action Secretariat and our Black members," said Sean O'Reilly, President of PIPSC. "This decision is not the end of the fight but rather a moment that strengthens our resolve to pursue justice through all available channels."

PIPSC calls on the federal government to demonstrate genuine commitment to addressing systemic racism by engaging directly with the Black Class Action Secretariat and implementing the changes they have proposed, including:

1. Creation of a Black Equity Commission to investigate challenges, implement solutions, and hold government entities accountable for discrimination.
2. A compensation fund to address psychological trauma and financial losses suffered by Black public servants over the past 50 years.
3. Implementing concrete measures to eliminate barriers to hiring and promotion for Black public servants

The pursuit of justice and equity in our public service must continue, regardless of this setback.

For more information on how to support this ongoing fight for justice, please visit www.blackclassaction.ca.

To all federal public service workers in the United States, particularly those in science and research:

PIPSC expresses our unwavering solidarity with you during these deeply challenging times. As the largest public service union in Canada representing federal scientists, we stand alongside all of you as you face unprecedented attacks on your work, your well-being, and the very foundations of scientific integrity.

We condemn in the strongest terms the attacks on science and research initiated by the Trump administration and its policies. From freezing billions of dollars in critical federal research funding to censoring research on topics such as climate change and gender, and firing thousands of public sector employees in national agencies that rely on scientific research to protect public health, the environment, and national security. This includes the Centre for Disease Control, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Archives, museums and libraries across the US. 

These actions aren’t just an assault on the science and research community but on the fundamental values of democracy itself. Science and research provide the bedrock upon which we base our understanding of the world, solve critical problems, and shape policy to advance and safeguard the public good. 

It must be free from political interference. 

In Canada, we don't have to look far into the past to see how our own government attacked federal science and research here. Under the Harper Conservatives, scientific programs vital to the health of Canada's environment and oceans were gutted or eliminated, thousands of federal scientists (including PIPSC members) were fired while others, specifically those researching climate change and other politically sensitive topics, were systematically muzzled. 

Canadians now face a candidate vying for the role of Prime Minister who not only supported these attacks on Canadian research and science but was a central figure in the administration that carried them out. Furthermore, this candidate has pledged that, if elected Prime Minister, he will cut over 100,000 federal public service jobs.

Public services, scientific integrity, and the good jobs that sustain them are under attack from multiple fronts. It's crucial for members of these communities and their unions to speak out and stand up in defense. 

We stand with our fellow American public service professionals in the fight to protect these agencies, defend the autonomy of all science, research and knowledge-based institutions, and demand that they remain adequately funded and prioritized for the public good.

Canada’s professional public service is the foundation on which all responses and programs to the tariff war will be built. Public servants' commitment to Canadians is unwavering. They will develop responses to foreign pressure, set up programs to support those hurt economically, and continue to deliver the critical services that Canadians rely on. 

PIPSC President Sean O’Reilly urges the government to continue to support Canadians by redeveloping its procurement strategy, ensuring that we buy Canadian, invest Canadian, and build Canadian. We can’t do that without a strong public service. 

By investing in our public service, the government is investing in Canada.

Read our open letter to the Prime Minister of Canada.

This open letter from President O'Reilly was originally published in the National Newswatch last month.

As Canada navigates a 30 day delay on a potential trade war with retaliatory tariffs, we find ourselves in a position of stunning contradiction. After threatening to impose tariffs on $155 billion worth of American goods, we continue to send billions of Canadian tax dollars south through federal outsourcing contracts to the very nation challenging our economic sovereignty.

The scale of this contradiction is staggering. In the midst of developing emergency support programs for Canadian industries affected by these tariffs, we're simultaneously paying premium rates to American consulting giants for work that could be done by Canadian public servants. Major U.S. firms like IBM consistently rank among the top five recipients of government IT contracts. At the same time, McKinsey & Company has been awarded hundreds of million of contracts over the last two decades – 70% of which were never put to tender. Data from the Parliamentary Budget Officer shows these outsourced contracts typically cost Canadian taxpayers 25% more than if the same work were performed by public service professionals – a premium that becomes even more questionable as we brace for economic turbulence.

The timing of this trade dispute brings into sharp focus the critical role of public service expertise. As the Department of Finance opens its remissions process for businesses affected by the trade war, it will be public servants who design and implement these crucial support programs. Yet paradoxically, we continue to hollow out our internal capacity by outsourcing core government functions to foreign companies.

The pandemic response demonstrated the irreplaceable value of our public service. When crises struck, it was public service professionals who developed testing protocols, managed vaccine procurement, and created and delivered the CERB program that supported millions of Canadians. Now, as we face potential economic disruption from tariffs that could shrink GDP by up to 5.6% and increase unemployment by 3%, we need these same professionals to analyze impacts, design mitigation strategies, and protect Canadian interests.

Consider the current situation: while provincial governments moved to remove American products from liquor stores and modify procurement practices with U.S. companies, federal procurement continues to favor American consulting giants. This creates a dangerous dependency at precisely the moment when we need to maximize our economic sovereignty and response capability.

Most troubling is how this outsourcing steadily drains Canadian knowledge and expertise southward to American firms. When we outsource government functions, we don't just lose money – we lose vital expertise and institutional memory. Critical information about government operations, security protocols, and strategic planning flows south alongside Canadian tax dollars. This creates vulnerabilities that extend far beyond immediate financial costs, potentially hampering our ability to respond to future crises independently.

The Fall Economic Statement announced $1.3 billion for enhanced border security, recognizing the need for stronger Canadian capabilities. That border package was further bolstered this month to meet Trump's latest demands – delaying the tariffs. Yet we continue to undermine these investments by outsourcing critical IT and operational functions to foreign firms. This isn't just about software development or system maintenance – it's about maintaining control over the digital infrastructure that powers our government's ability to respond to crises.

Canada needs a fundamental shift in how we approach government procurement and capacity building. We must  repatriate essential government functions to our public service, particularly in areas critical to national security and economic sovereignty. This isn't about protectionism – it's about peace, order, and good government. A strong, professional public service isn't just an administrative necessity; it's a strategic asset in maintaining Canadian independence and resilience.

The current trade tensions offer an opportunity to reassess our procurement strategies and investment in public service capacity. As we prepare to weather economic headwinds, we must ensure we're not undermining ourselves from within. It's time to invest in our public service, build Canadian capability, and ensure our nation's foundation remains strong, regardless of what economic storms may come.

It defies logic to fight a trade war with one hand while writing cheques to American consultants with the other. Canada needs a public service that answers to Canadians, not US shareholders. In this moment of economic uncertainty, the latter isn't just preferable – it's essential for our national resilience.

Sean O'Reilly 

President

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC)