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Core issue

Outsourcing

Between 2011 and 2018, the federal government outsourced over $11.9 billion in work to IT consultants, management consultants and temporary help contractors. More than the budgets of 5 departments and agencies combined.

Years of unchecked spending on government outsourcing has created a shadow public service of consultants and temporary staff operating alongside the government workforce.

The Issue

The contract between public employees and the federal government is breaking down. Outsourcing means higher cost, lower quality services for Canadians – less transparency, less accountability, and the loss of institutional knowledge and skills. Moving specialized knowledge and skills out of the public service has created a lack of development and training opportunities inside the public service. Our Career Development and Training Task Force is undertaking member-focused research and will be proposing evidence-based solutions to take to the employer.

The real costs of outsourcing are too high – wasted money, poor hiring practices, eroded capacity and safety concerns. It’s time to put a stop to outsourcing. Over the course of 2020, PIPSC will release a series of investigative reports unpacking the government’s growing reliance on outsourcing and its true costs.

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Recent news
Part two: Outsourcing and gender equity

11 Mar 2021

5 years ago

Government outsourcing, especially outsourcing of IT personnel, is costing Canadians billions of dollars each year. From time to time, outsourcing may be necessary to augment staff compliments or bring in external skills and expertise1. But years of unchecked spending on outsourcing has created a shadow public service of consultants operating alongside the government workforce. This …

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Pushing back against more outsourcing at CRA

1 Mar 2021

5 years ago

On February 19, 2021, President Debi Daviau wrote to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Commissioner Bob Hamilton regarding its recent decision to hire a third-party contractor to answer questions from taxpayers about emergency benefits and their impact on 2020 tax returns. While the various programs introduced to help Canadians during the pandemic may well result in …

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Career Development and Training Task Force

29 Jan 2020

6 years ago

According to our 2019 membership survey, career development and training (CDT) is a top priority for seventy percent of PIPSC members – in particular, younger members. That’s why we’re launching a research project to better understand all aspects of career development and training in the federal public service, such as qualifying for a promotion, attending …

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Outsourcing Reports

Part One: The real cost of outsourcing

(2020) The cost of unchecked outsourcing skyrockets while important skills and institutional knowledge are moved out of the public service.

Read the report

Part Two: The real cost of outsourcing

(2020) Government outsourcing deepens gender inequity across Canada's public service. In IT, lucrative contracts are doled out to a male-dominant industry that has notoriously struggled with gender equity.

Read the report

Report: Programmed to fail

(2016) How outsourcing is costing the federal government money, jobs, morale, accountability and productivity.

Read the report

Navigar training platform

IT Group members have access to a training and development fund available through PIPSC’s Navigar platform. Available to all PIPSC members in 2026.

Find out more