4 hours Ago By Matteo Cimellaro
Now that the Conservative Party has unveiled its platform, every main party has released a plan. And every one of those plans at least mentions the federal public service. With less than a week before the final vote is held, here’s everything you need to know about how each platform tackles issues affecting government workers.
The Liberals plan to ‘cap’ The Liberal Party platform has promised that its goal would be “capping, not cutting” the public service. What that means for the exact size of the public service isn’t totally clear from a reading of the platform, but the Liberals pledged to launch spending review that “will ensure that the size of the federal public service meets the needs of Canadians.” The platform also says a government led by Liberal Leader Mark Carney would follow through on a Justin Trudeau-era initiative to expand early retirement for frontline public servants by amending the Public Service Superannuation Act to expand eligibility.
Carney has also put consultant spending in his crosshairs. In the Liberal platform, Carney has promised to “significantly reducing reliance on external consultants, while improving the capacity of the public service to hire expertise in-house.” Details remain scant on cost reductions for consultant fees with specific numbers expected to emerge from the spending review.
The Liberal platform also reiterates Carney’s commitment to using more artificial intelligence in the public service, announcing in the document that his government would be “relentless in looking for ways to make government more efficient. The potential of AI to improve services and delivery must be included in that work.” If elected, Carney would establish a dedicated office of digital transformation that would look to streamline public service delivery through the increased use of technology.
The Conservatives want to ‘trim’ The Conservative Party platform has a plan to “trim the bloated bureaucracy” within the public service. The size of the public service has swelled to 367,772 workers in 2024 from 257,034 in 2015, according to the Treasury Board. If elected to form the next government, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre intends to cut $10.
5 billion in consultant fees annually and reduce the public service “without mass layoffs,” he said at a campaign stop on April 29 . The Conservatives, who have pledged to cut the current budget deficit by 70 per cent, would use natural attrition to “streamline” the public service. Their platform said they would only replace two out of every three departing employees, which they said would save $2.
85 billion by the 2028-2029 fiscal year. The Conservatives have previously claimed that using attrition alone could reduce the size of the public service by 17,000 a year. “Your tax dollars are precious, but under this bloated Liberal government, inflationary spending keeps going up while services keep getting worse,” the platform said.
“Let’s cut the fat, not the frontline services Canadians rely on.” If elected, the Conservatives plan to scrap university requirements for most government jobs to “hire for skill, not credentials.” The NDP says no cuts for now The New Democratic Party platform is marked by increased program spending, indicating potential growth in the size of the public service.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has said previously that the public service workforce should not be cut in the face of a possible economic slowdown or recession due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.
“New Democrats are rejecting calls for cuts to the public sector and to social programs – cuts which would be made to reach a budgetary balance in the short-term, despite the costs and the consequences for people,” the NDP plan said. “Instead, we are proposing increased investments in both infrastructure and in people.” But there is an acknowledgement within the platform that there could come a time when the government would need to rein in spending.
“We recognize the importance of the government living within its means,” the plan said. “As the trade war subsides, unemployment decreases and our economy reaches a more stable footing, we will take steps to return to a path to balance.” The NDP platform points to the promise of employment insurance reform to help workers stay afloat during any Trump tariff-related job losses.
Growth in employment insurance could require increased hiring for the government program, similar to what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. The NDP has also promised to tackle corporate tax avoidance by providing additional resources to the Canada Revenue Agency. The Greens want to ‘reinvest’ The Green Party platform has promised to restore “excellence in the federal public service.
” The Greens pledged to “reinvest in Canada’s federal public service, rebuilding capacity, morale and expertise.” The party, co-led by Jonathan Pedneault and Elizabeth May, wants to end the federal government’s reliance on large consulting firms such as McKinsey and Deloitte, opting to keep work and spending in-house within the public service. McKinsey was at the centre of a scandal for the Trudeau government after consulting fees to the firm ballooned into the millions, with the majority of the contracts deemed by the auditor general as uncompetitive.
“We’ll end contracts with expensive consulting firms,” the Green Party platform said. “We’ll rebuild a public service that serves people well. We’ll make sure someone is responsible for every decision.
” The party also has its eyes set on reforming the government’s access-to-information system, expanding the legislation to the Prime Minister’s Office, ministers’ offices and Parliament. The party wants to scrap all fees for the process except for the standard five-dollar fee for filing. To curb foreign interference, the Green Party proposes empowering Elections Canada to investigate foreign interference claims and provide public reporting on threats to Canadian democracy.
The Green Party is looking to reverse the Stephen Harper-era restructuring of public services that umbrella’d service delivery under Service Canada. What does the largest federal public sector union think? The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the largest federal public sector union, didn’t love what it saw in the Liberal and Conservative platforms. But union representatives refused to say if PSAC plans to endorse one party over another.
“With Canada’s economy under threat and millions of jobs on the line, working people are wondering who will have their backs. The answer has always been clear: no matter the crisis, it’s public service workers who keep Canada strong,” said PSAC president Sharon DeSousa in an email statement. “That’s why it’s disappointing to see both the Liberal and Conservative platforms calling for a “leaner,” more “efficient” public service.
Make no mistake – cuts to public services and the people who deliver them hurt everyone in Canada. We expect to work closely with the newly elected government after this election to commit to protecting public services; Canada’s future depends on it.” Our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark our homepage and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed.
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