Counting the cuts

Mark Carney's attacks on Canada's public service should concern all Canadians.

Mark Carney has promised to remove $60B from the federal government through near-across-the-board cuts. It’s a funny thing to decide to do now, given the threat of US annexation. Canadian sovereignty has never been so important, but it has also almost never been as fragile either. In fact, it’s possible that it’s never been more fragile in our 158 year history.

While the federal government is trying to eliminate 40,000 jobs, they will be increasing the number of people who are employed by the Department of National Defence by 8604. The number of members of the Canadian Armed Forces increased by 6,700 last year.

Global News compiled a list of where money is going to be cut, and where it’s going to be boosted. Here are their two graphs. But even in the departments ostensibly getting a spending injection, there are still cuts.

It’s also worth noting that the defense contracts are starting. Here’s what we know:

$1.4 billion to manufacture ammunition ($306.3M for IMT Precision for shell casings)
$307M for Colt Canada to make rifles for the CAF.
$200 million for new space port in Canso (??)
$50M for Defence Innovation Secure Hubs
$1.75M for new drone award (??)
$19.1M to buy appartment building for CAF members in Courtenay

Here’s a round-up of federal cuts announced so far, by alphabetical order:

Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada

28 positions of 679 total.

Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada

655 positions to be cut. Agriculture Climate Solution Living Labs program (started in 2021) will be cut. It was used to try and find ways for carbon sequestering of greenhouse gas (probably ok to cut…) They also plan to close agricultural research centres which investigate how to optimize growing conditions in Canada’s climate.

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

65 postitions of 579 to be cut.

Canada Border Services Agency

The plan is to cut 386 positions of a total workforce of 17,234.

Canada Revenue Agency

They plan to cut 2620 posts over three years.

Canada Economic Development for Quebec Region:

24 unionized positions

Canada Post

Carney plans to privatize it, cutting 99% of its public funding.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency

To save $235 million in savings over four years, CFIA is going to cut 587 jobs. The Liberals’ federal budget said. that this, “will reduce overlap and duplication within the organization, such as by ensuring accountability for each business line, reducing non-core research activities to focus on high-priority diagnostic methods, and consolidating lab services to focus on essential testing and avoid the need for costly capital upgrades.”

Canadian Heritage

This department has been told to cut $270M out of its bugdet. They are eliminating 180 jobs of a total department size of 1910 positions. They will cut $76 million out of the Canada Cultural Space Fund, Canada Media Fund, Canada Periodical Fund and Local Journalism Initiatve. They also cut the special envoys for Islamophobia and Antisemitism.

Canadian Museum of History, Canadian War Museum

67 positions.

Canada School of Public Service

66 positions eliminated through layoffs and retirement.

Canadian Spacce Agency

Their budget will be cut by one-third, or $400 million.

CBC

The budget to CBC will be cut by 7%, or $192 million.

Correctional Services Canada

At least 31 librarians work in the federal prison system. It’s part of a directive to cut $132.2 million by 2028-29. To get towards that goal, these cuts will save $2.4 million. Activists have mobilized to try and get the cuts reversed. From CBC: “The most effective crime prevention strategy that can happen in the prison is to provide more education, more training, more access to reading materials,” said Melissa Munn, a retired professor of criminology at Okanagan College. They also plan to cut 418 positions.

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

186 positions to be cut as of December, though CTV notes that the numbers could change.

Employment and Social Development Canada

The department plans to cut 5411 jobs of a total workforce of 42,520. The hope is to use something they magically refer to as “AI” to make up the service gap that these cuts will result in. They plan to cut $1.4 billion from their budget by doing things like cutting previously temporary funding from Early Learning and Child Care Program and the Canada Summer Jobs program.

Environment and Climate Change Canada

They plan to cut 1400 jobs from this department.

Finance

96 posts to be eliminated of 963 total positions.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

They plan to cut 767 posts of a total workforce of 8,198 and cut $371 million from its budget over two years.

Global Affairs Canada

CTV reports that “3,295 employees, 406 executives” received notices in January. They are eliminating 840 887 positions. They are also cutting $2.7B out of the global aid budget over four years. To try and make up for the job and funding cuts, Randeep Sarai, secretary of state for international development, told the Canadian Press that they want to get “creative” with aid, by twinning it with funding private capital at the same time. So rather than funding women’s needs they might instead fund a cinnamon factory where the women work. It will ensure local buisness owners get rich while their workplace remains subjugated, which is kind of the opposite point of global aid. They also plan to eliminate several programs by not renewing them, like Canada’s International Climate Finance Commitment.

Health Canada

They plan to cut 1092 jobs from Health Canada.

Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada

137 posts eliminated of 1138 in the department.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

906 positions to be cut of a workforce of 6,526.

Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees Canada

328 positions to be cut.

Interim Federal Health Program

To save $358M, the federal government will take away access to prescription drugs and health services for free for refugees. This program has existed for decades and is premised on the idea that a refugee arrives in Canada with very little means, and it is in everyone’s best interest for them to have their health needs paid for.

Department of Justice

134 positions to be cut of 5,608.

Library and Archives Canada

161 posts to be elimited of 1138 total positions. They will end the Documentary Heritage Communities Program and reduce its Access to Information and Privacy functions.

National Film Board of Canada

National Film Board of Canada plans to cut 14 jobs. Two years ago, 53 jobs were also cut from the NFB. Management says that this is the result of being asked to cut 15% of their budget. In total, 342 people work for the NFB.

National Research Council of Canada

196 unionized positions eliminated

Natural Resources Canada

400 positions

Nuclear facility Chalk River is now managed by Americans

Chalk River is now managed by an American-owned consortium. Chalk River is a nuclear research facility — the only one that would be equipped to develop nuclear weapons, if it ever came to that. It’s owned by the Crown Corporation Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Carney’s Liberals sold the management of AECL to The American consortium is called Nuclear Laboratory Partners of Canada Inc. (of course). We pay the consortium $1.2B annually to manage it. From the Globe and Mail: “The American-owned consortium is led by a large nuclear specialty manufacturer focused on military equipment and nuclear fuel called BWX Technologies Inc. It also performs nuclear site restoration work and holds a large U.S. government contract to perform environmental work at Hanford, a decommissioned nuclear production complex in the state of Washington. (BWXT has 1,900 employees in Canada.) The consortium also includes BWXT’s recently acquired Canadian subsidiary Kinectrics Inc., along with Virginia-based Amentum Environment & Energy Inc. Another organization, Battelle Memorial Institute, based in Ohio, has been described as a “key subcontractor.”

Parks Canada faces cutbacks and closures

To save money as part of the federal mandate, Parks Canada will partially close. Fort Lennox National Historic Site has been closed since 2024, even though the feds paid $14.9 million to maintain the site. Battle of Châteauguay National Historic Site’s building is closed, as is the Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site in Quebec City. Wilfrid Laurier's birthplace in Saint-Lin is only open by appointment and William Lyon Mackenzie King’s childhood home is only open two months of the year.

Parole Board of Canada

44 jobs are going to be “adjusted” and 37 positions eliminated. In total, 496 people work for the Parole Board of Canada, which manages parole for people who are serving sentences in all parts of Canada.

Pacific Economic Development Canada

2 positions cut

Privy Council

179 of 1208 positions to be cut.

Public Health Agency of Canada

53 positons cut through retirements and not replacing them.

Public Services and Procurement Canada

They plan to cut nearly 6000 jobs.

Public Service Commission of Canada

40 positions cut of 803 total.

Public Safety Canada

Jobs that will be cut at Public Safety Canada will be related to, “IT, communications and legal services.”

RCMP

173 positions to be cut of 12,220 total.

Shared Services Canada

Cut its budget by $159.3 million in 2026-27, $212 million in 2027-28 and $318.5 million in 2028-29 and cut somewhere between 500 and 750 jobs (conflicting reports).

Statistics Canada

In total, 3,274 “workforce adjustment notices” were issued to the staff of Canada’s only national statistics agency. There are a total of 7,274 workers at the agency. Thanks to Statistics Canada, we know so much about ourselves.

Transport Canada

They plan to cut 607 jobs of a total workforce of 6,666, by cutting, “spending on programs listed as regulatory and oversight frameworks, IT, human resources, communications and legal services”

Treasury Board Secretariat

556 positions to be cut of 2374 total.

Nature groups warn federal funding cuts endangering efforts to protect land, water

Carney has cut $534 million from conservation plans. The government has not yet given any explanation about how it will make up this much money in its conversation plans for Canada’s threatned lands, coastlines and water.

With thanks especially to reporting from CTV’s Josh Pringle, Global’s David Akin, CP’s Dylan Robertson and the team at the Ottawa Citizen.