Quebec City, September 14, 2026 — As they prepare to begin a new round of bargaining amidst sweeping budget cuts, federal researchers and scientists are demonstrating today in front of the Quebec Research and Development Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, located on Hochelaga Boulevard in Quebec City, to support federal science and research operations that are bearing the brunt of the sweeping budget cuts.
As they prepare to begin a new round of bargaining amidst sweeping budget cuts, federal researchers and scientists are demonstrating today in front of the Quebec Research and Development Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, located on Hochelaga Boulevard in Quebec City, to support federal science and research operations that are bearing the brunt of the sweeping budget cuts.
The federal government has recently announced the closure of this important research facility and knowledge-transfer hub. Run in partnership with Laval University, it is one of eight centres set to be shut down without any valid scientific justification.The network of related experimental farms is also seeing its operations scaled back.
“Researchers and scientists employed by the federal government feel the urgency to set aside their beakers, test tubes, and research protocols to speak out against the massive budget cuts,” said Jean Bérubé, a federal researcher who also serves as Vice-President of the Researchers Group (RE Group) of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), and as head of the bargaining team. “These cuts are particularly damaging to several key science-based sectors at the federal level.” “Researchers and scientists say that this round of bargaining is coming at a very bad time, when Canada needs all its talent and its best minds to conduct research and implement solutions to address a situation of global uncertainty. Yet, in 2026, public science is marked by announcements of workforce adjustments and job cuts, a comprehensive expenditure review on already meager budgets, and the erosion of in-house scientific expertise within the government.
“The fact that scientists and researchers—the people in society who are most averse to conflict—are willing to take a stand should give the government pause for thought,” Bérubé continued. “We are concerned about the long-term damage to public health, the environment, and the economy caused by the underestimation of public science and the weakening of its capabilities.”
Federal scientists say that the upcoming negotiations are not limited to wages or a collective agreement. The goal is to protect the public’s scientific capacity that Canadians rely on every day.
“When a government cuts funding for public science, we lose more than just jobs,” explains Bryan van Wilgenburg, President of PIPSC’s Scientists Group (SP Group). “We are losing confidence in the safety of our food, pesticides, medications, trains, and airplanes. We are losing the ability to identify risks early on, respond effectively to problems, and make evidence-based decisions. Once this public expertise is lost, rebuilding it can take years—even in the best-case scenario.”
Researchers and scientists work across the federal government in fields that protect the public and support evidence-based decision-making, including food and drug safety, emergency preparedness, environmental monitoring, fisheries and oceans, climatology, public health, intellectual property, and impact assessments.
This will be the second protest in the history of Quebec City’s researchers and scientists; the last one took place in October 2014 amid massive budget cuts and the suppression of public science under a Conservative government.
PIPSC represents more than 80,000 public-sector professionals across the country, including more than 1,500 public servants in the Quebec City region alone. There are approximately 180 federal researchers and 260 federal scientists employed by Natural Resources Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the Valcartier Military Research Centre. Follow us on Facebook, on Blueskyand on Instagram.
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Source: Media Relations, media@pipsc.ca
