Prime Minister Mark Carney campaigned on a promise of “caps, not cuts” to Canada’s federal public service in the last federal election. But the sweeping 15% budget cuts announced as part of a spending review this week look and feel like austerity and will hurt everyone in Canada who depends on vital public services.

The recent results of the 2024 Public Service Employee Survey paint a picture of the growing strain put on federal public service workers who are being asked to do more with less as job cuts and uncertainty continue to impact workers. Public service workers say they feel stretched to the breaking point, and the survey results from more than 186,000 workers indicate that there have been no substantive improvements to many of the systemic issues reported by workers.

PSAC and the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) has served notice to begin bargaining with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) on behalf of 31,000 members across the country. This marks the first step in the collective agreement negotiation process.