Statistics Canada announces cuts affecting approximately 850 staff members and 12% of its management team.
Carter Mann, spokesperson for the agency, indicated that Statistics Canada would inform affected employees within the next two weeks.
Data from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat shows that 7,274 people worked for the service as of March 31, 2025.
According to this data, 99 of these employees were part of the management team.
Several ministries, including Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Environment and Climate Change, and Employment and Social Development, informed staff late last year that information on job cuts would be communicated this month.
Sean O’Reilly, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, said workforce adjustment notices have been sent to 3,274 workers, including 940 union members.
Mr. O’Reilly clarified that he still did not know which programs would be affected.
The union said it was concerned about the job cuts as the agency prepares for the May census.
“It’s a really dark day for us here and, I think, for Canadians,” Mr. O’Reilly said. Statistics Canada produces data that truly underpins all government decisions and is used by businesses and communities. »
He is particularly concerned “that this will cause further generational damage to the data that Canadians rely on every day.”
Cost reduction
Ottawa is seeking to reduce program spending and administrative costs by approximately $60 billion over the next five years through its “comprehensive spending review.”
The latest federal budget indicates that this exercise will involve a restructuring of operations and a consolidation of internal services. It also specifies that workforce adjustments and natural attrition will be implemented in order to reduce the size of the civil service to “a more sustainable level”.
Mr. O’Reilly said the union had been informed that job cuts would soon be announced by Shared Services Canada and that hundreds of staff members would likely be affected.
“They are sort of the backbone of Canada’s and the federal government’s IT infrastructure, and they do a lot of work in the area of cybersecurity. “Seeing job cuts in this sector gives us the impression that we are gutting all of these essential services on which Canadians and the federal government depend,” said Mr. O’Reilly.
Nick Wells, spokesperson for Shared Services Canada, said the agency was in the process of informing employees and managers that their positions were affected and may no longer be needed.
“We cannot communicate the number of employees who will receive a letter until we complete this process,” he said.
The government plans to cut around 40,000 jobs in the public service, which had 368,000 positions in 2023-2024. Around 10,000 jobs have already been lost.
The plan calls for the elimination of 1,000 management positions over the next two years and a 20% reduction in spending on management and consulting services over three years.
The federal government has sent letters with information about its early retirement program to nearly 68,000 public employees who may qualify.
The government says it is trying to increase the attrition rate and avoid laying off younger workers by offering a voluntary program allowing workers to retire early without facing a pension penalty.
The latest federal budget indicates that the government intends to implement the one-year early retirement program starting this month.
Alex Silas, national executive vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, warned that cutting hundreds of jobs at Statistics Canada could compromise the quality, accuracy and timeliness of data collection, which “impacts everyone who relies on this information to plan, respond and make decisions.”
“It is time for the government to be clear on the repercussions of these job cuts, because downsizing the public service compromises the essential services on which communities depend,” said Mr. Silas.
Avec Craig Wong
