Ottawa, January 29, 2026 — Public service experts are sounding the alarm over federal cuts to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), warning that food safety, public health, and Canada’s agri-food economy are being put at serious risk in the name of “efficiency.” The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) is calling for immediate public scrutiny of decisions that are hollowing out the federal government’s capacity to prevent the spread of foodborne illness, respond to disease outbreaks, and protect Canada’s domestic and import/export food systems.

“These cuts don’t just affect public servants – they affect every Canadian who eats,” said Sean O’Reilly, President of PIPSC. “When you strip away food safety research, inspection capacity, and emergency coordination, you increase the risk that disease or contamination goes undetected until people are already sick.”

PIPSC warns that the CFIA has faced chronic staffing shortages for more than a decade, even as its workload has steadily increased. The latest cuts significantly worsen an already fragile system.

“Thousands of food processing plants in Canada have never been inspected,” said O’Reilly. “Inspectors are already struggling to keep up with the facilities they’re responsible for today. Expecting fewer staff to do more inspections is simply unrealistic. In the event of a major outbreak, it spells disaster.”

According to PIPSC, the cuts represent the loss of nearly one million hours of food safety and inspection expertise every year. “CFIA has already trimmed the fat – then they cut muscle. These cuts are to the bone,” O’Reilly said. “They put the entire food safety system, and the economy it supports, at risk.”

Canada’s food and agriculture sector is worth over $100 billion annually, while federal investment in CFIA is roughly $1 billion - a return that PIPSC says is being recklessly undermined.

“This is one of the best investments Canadians make,” said O’Reilly. “Why would we cut food safety when it protects lives, livelihoods, and our economy – especially when Canada is looking to diversify its trading partners?”

The risks are not hypothetical. CFIA is currently managing a nationwide recall of more than 300 pistachio products linked to potential Salmonella contamination from imported products. As of early January 2026, multiple brands across Canada have been affected, and hospitalizations have been reported.

“These cuts directly impact CFIA’s ability to conduct the investigations that lead to life-saving recalls,” said O’Reilly. “Weakening inspection and surveillance capacity means outbreaks last longer and harm more people.”

PIPSC also warns that the cuts severely undermine Canada’s ability to monitor and respond to animal and zoonotic diseases such as avian influenza, African swine fever, bluetongue, and foot-and-mouth disease - capacity that is essential to protecting public health and maintaining international trade.

"Veterinary epidemiologists are a trade requirement", said O’Reilly. “If Canada can’t demonstrate credible disease surveillance and risk analysis, we risk losing export access overnight. There are only a handful of veterinary epidemiologists in Canada - and only dozens globally - with this level of expertise. Without them, trading partners lose confidence, exports are at risk, and industry is forced to absorb massive testing costs.”

At the same time, the CFIA is shifting toward a so-called “business line model” of food safety. While framed as modernization, the model increasingly relies on algorithms, industry self-regulation, and third-party audits, while public inspection capacity continues to erode.

“Food safety is not a business function – it’s a public health responsibility,” said O’Reilly. “When oversight is optimized for efficiency instead of safety, the risk is transferred directly onto the public.”

Canadians have already seen the consequences. A Pickering food processing plant linked to a deadly listeria outbreak in 2023 had not been inspected by the CFIA for five years after an automated risk model based on third-party audits classified it as low risk. The CFIA only discovered the plant wasn’t even testing for listeria - after three people had died.

PIPSC represents over 85,000 public-sector professionals across the country, the majority employed by the federal government. Follow us on Facebook and on Instagram.

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For more information: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (mobile), jfillion@pipsc.ca

PIPSC stewards are the first line of contact for members when facing Workforce Adjustment (WFA) situations. Resources are available below to help you learn more about WFA and ways to support members.

Flowchart and FAQs

For information about how to navigate different WFA situations, review or download the WFA Flowchart and consult the FAQ pages on our website, which include information on: 

• Indeterminate employees
• Selection of Employees for Retention or Lay-Off (SERLO)
• Alternation options for indeterminate employees, and more

If members have questions specific to their department, please reach out to their National Consultation team for details. Members can also ask their employer for any relevant dates regarding WFA in their department.

Watch past webinars

Recordings of past WFA webinars can be found on the web pages below or on our YouTube channel. Webinar recordings: 

• January 2026
• Fall 2025
• Summer 2025

Stay up to date on upcoming WFA webinars and register for a future session to learn more and have your questions answered by PIPSC experts. 

Take the online course

As stewards, you will play a crucial role in communicating about the WFA process, helping affected members understand their rights and options, and ensuring important collective agreement protections are followed. 

PIPSC is offering an online course to equip Stewards in core TBS groups with the tools and resources needed to help members navigate WFA situations. The entire course will take about 1 to 2 hours to complete, and can be completed at your own pace.

If you have a Canvas account, you can access the course by logging in here. If you do not have a Canvas account:

• Step 1: Create an account with Canvas here
• Step 2: Fill out the form and include the course code: YBEA8T
• Step 3: Start the course! You can log in anytime here

Learn about Alternation 

PIPSC has created an alternation platform to assist members who are labelled as opting or surplus as a result of a WFA situation and who wish to remain employed in the public service. Non-affected members who are ready to leave the public service may also want to create a profile to enable an employee to alternate with them. 

PIPSC Alternation Platform

Note that this platform requires members to seek their own alternation matches. We recommend that anyone interested in alternation also use the alternation platforms provided by the Employer. Learn more about alternation on our FAQs page. 

Talk to an expert

PIPSC has created a WFA Task Force to ensure a coordinated response to the public service-wide cuts, including providing additional support to stewards and members.

If you have questions about WFA that cannot be answered through the available resources, you can call the PIPSC reception line at 1-800-267-0446. Reception will redirect you to a specific WFA voicemail where calls are returned within 24 to 48 hours if no one is immediately available to answer your questions.

Mental health resources

This is a difficult time for all federal workers across the public service, and it’s okay to not be okay. Supporting members through WFA situations can be challenging, but there are resources available on the PIPSC website to help stewards and members.

We know that, alongside members, Stewards may also be affected by WFA situations. Most PIPSC members with federal, provincial or private employers have access to an Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP). Your EFAP provides counselling, referral services and sometimes other specialized supports. All services are confidential and free.

For information on EFAPs for members of the Core Public Administration and other Federal Agencies, search by department. For information on EFAPs for PIPSC members at other employers, please contact your human resources department.

Ottawa, January 23, 2026 — The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) is warning that cuts announced this week to key federal science-based departments will weaken Canada’s ability to prevent disasters, respond to emergencies, and protect public safety and the environment.

Reductions at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Transport Canada (TC), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) target scientists, engineers, and policy experts whose work underpins dangerous goods regulation, rail safety, weather forecasting, pollution prevention, marine conservation, habitat restoration, and environmental disaster response.    

“These are not abstract programs or administrative redtape,” said Sean O’Reilly, President of PIPSC. “These are the experts who prevent oil spills from becoming catastrophes, who ensure dangerous goods don’t explode on our railways, who make sure Canadians can trust weather warnings, and who protect species from extinction. Cutting this scientific expertise puts public safety and the environment at risk.”

 The cuts come on the heels of a 2025 PIPSC report warning that Canada’s federal public science system is already at a breaking point. A Science Roadmap for Canada’s Future: Lessons from a Decade of Federal Scientists’ Voices, drawing on 12 years of data from thousands of federal scientists, shows collapsing funding, shrinking capacity, and declining confidence in evidence-based decision-making –  and calls for immediate reinvestment, not deeper cuts.

“Canadians have seen the cost of failing to invest in science, regulation, and oversight,” said Bryan Van Wilgenburg, President of PIPSC’s Applied Science and Patent Group (SP Group) and employee at ECCC. “The collapse of the Atlantic cod fishery, the Sydney Tar Ponds – Canada’s most notorious toxic waste site, and the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster that killed 47 people were not acts of nature. They were failures of oversight, investment, and evidence-based decision-making –  exactly what these cuts are stripping away.”

PIPSC is calling on the federal government to protect the scientific, engineering, research, and regulatory expertise that protects Canadians, their communities and the environment – now and for future generations. “We need to invest in science, not divest”, reiterated O’Reilly.

If you missed our Work Force Adjustment (WFA) webinar, the recording and resources below are now available. In this webinar, we explain your rights under the collective agreement and provide tools and resources to support you.

Work force adjustments (WFAs) continue to affect members across the public service. These cuts threaten the services Canadians count on and place heavier burdens on the workers who provide them. PIPSC is here to ensure you have the information and support you need.

• WFA Presentation Deck
• WFA FAQs

PIPSC is advocating for proper staffing levels to maintain your health and well-being. We know that each position eliminated isn't just a number on a spreadsheet – it represents meaningful work that won't be done and essential services that won't reach Canadians who depend on them.

If you have questions, please contact bettertogether@pipsc.ca. 

OTTAWA,  January 20, 2026 — Deep workforce cuts at Health Canada will weaken the systems Canadians rely on to ensure the safety of their food, medications, and medical devices, warns the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, following confirmation that hundreds of specialized scientific, regulatory, and consumer safety jobs are being eliminated.

“These cuts don’t just affect workers – this is healthcare, they affect every Canadian,” said Sean O’Reilly, President of PIPSC. “These are the experts who make sure the medication in your cabinet is safe to take, the food in your fridge won’t make your family sick, and dangerous products are pulled off store shelves before they cause harm”.

Health Canada is responsible for reviewing and approving prescription drugs, vaccines, and medical devices; monitoring and responding to infectious diseases and foodborne outbreaks; enforcing safety standards; and protecting Canadians from environmental risks in air and water.

PIPSC warns that slashing capacity at Health Canada allows small problems to become serious failures.

“When you weaken the government’s ability to regulate drugs and health products, issue recalls and alerts, and respond to infectious diseases, risks go undetected and warnings come too late,” said O’Reilly. “These experts help Canadians act quickly because they act quickly. You cannot cut public health without increasing risk.”

The union is also deeply concerned about the loss of specialized scientific expertise that cannot be easily replaced. “At a time when Canadians expect strong oversight and rapid responses to health threats, these cuts move us in the opposite direction,” O’Reilly added. “Canadians deserve a proactive, evidence-based, and adequately resourced health system, not one that is less prepared for the crises of tomorrow.”

PIPSC is calling on the federal government to reconsider the scope of these cuts and to meaningfully assess their long-term impacts on public health, safety, and service delivery.

PIPSC represents over 85,000 public-sector professionals across the country, most of them employed by the federal government. Follow us on Facebook, on X (formerly known as Twitter) and on Instagram.

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For more information: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (mobile), jfillion@pipsc.ca

OTTAWA, January 16, 2026 - As workforce cuts accelerate, public servants are being forced into a Hunger Games-style fight for jobs, competing for their own positions, while outside consultants carry on untouched. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) is demanding the government explain why experienced public servants are facing waves of workforce reductions as outsourcing spending reaches record highs.

“This week saw major waves of workforce cuts at Shared Services Canada and Statistics Canada, dealing a serious blow to Canada’s digital and information infrastructure,” said Sean O’Reilly, President of PIPSC. “We are hearing directly from members that consultants are still working alongside employees who received layoff notices this week. That raises serious questions.”

Over the past week alone, public servants at Statistics Canada, Shared Services Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the Canada Economic Development for Québec and the Treasury Board Secretariat, among others, have received workforce adjustment notices, deepening uncertainty and instability across the public service.

“These are core public services Canadians rely on every day,” said O’Reilly. “Slashing capacity across these federal departments weakens cybersecurity, undermines evidence-based decision-making, and delays service delivery. Cuts today mean crisis tomorrow.”

The cuts announced this past week are part of the government’s Comprehensive Expenditure Review, a broader wave of public sector reductions that has already affected multiple federal departments, with more job losses expected in the days and weeks ahead.

“Consultants cost at least 26 percent more than public servants,” said O’Reilly. “If you are trying to save money, you do not lay off trained, experienced workers and pay someone else more to do the same job. That’s not savings. That’s waste.”

PIPSC is calling on the government to halt further workforce cuts and prioritize the expertise of public servants over costly outsourcing. Federal scientists and researchers will also be in Ottawa today demonstrating against cuts to federal science and the broader public service. Members will gather at the Delta Hotel at 2:45 PM ET and will march to Parliament Hill.

For more information on today's rally or to request an interview: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (mobile), jfillion@pipsc.ca

OTTAWA, January 13, 2026 — Federal departments are issuing workforce reduction notices on a scale not seen in decades, raising serious concerns about the federal government’s ability to deliver public services Canadians rely on. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) warns that the loss of experienced public servants will have lasting consequences for service quality, capacity, and accountability.

“These are not abstract cuts on the government’s balance sheet - they are real jobs, real expertise and real services at risk," said PIPSC President Sean O’Reilly. "Once this capacity is gone, it cannot be quickly or cheaply replaced. It’s a dark time for the federal public service.”

Today’s impacted departments include Statistics Canada, a cornerstone of the public service that provides the trusted data Canadians rely on to understand the economy, the labour market, inflation, and housing. That data underpins evidence-based decision-making across government, business, and communities, shaping economic policy, guiding investment, and supporting effective service delivery to all Canadians.

PIPSC notes that reductions at Statistics Canada are part of a broader wave of public-sector cuts that have already affected multiple federal departments, with more reductions expected in the days and weeks ahead. Together, these cuts represent a significant contraction of public service capacity across government, raising concerns about the federal government’s ability to deliver core services and functions, respond effectively to economic uncertainty, and implement its own ambitious agenda.

“If the government wants sound analysis to help retool the Canadian economy, it needs the right data and analysts who know how to interpret it. That capacity doesn’t exist without Statistics Canada experts. That capacity was slashed today,” said O’Reilly. “Given the challenges Canada is facing, this is the wrong decision at the worst possible time.”

The union also warned that workforce reductions are part of a broader pattern that will damage productivity and drive early departures, leaving departments increasingly dependent on private consultants to fill gaps.

“This is not happening in isolation,” O’Reilly said. “Public servants are facing a triple hit at the same time. Significant job cuts, forced return-to-office rules, and a wave of early retirement incentives. That is not a plan. It is a pile-on.”

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For more information: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (mobile), jfillion@pipsc.ca

The government of Canada has announced that, effective January 1, 2026, pension benefits for retirees under the Public Service Pension Plan will be increased by 2.0%. This automatic increase, known as indexation, is designed to help protect your pension against the rising costs of living.

Over time, indexation ensures that your retirement income continues to meet your needs, helping maintain financial security and stability in retirement, even as prices for everyday goods and services rise.

The Public Service Pension Plan is an employer sponsored, defined benefits pension plan that covers most PIPSC members working in the Core Public Administration or at separate employers. 

For full details, including how the indexing is calculated and what it means for your pension, please visit the PSPP indexation page. Indexing rate – Retired members

The following op-ed by PIPSC President Sean O’Reilly was published in the Ottawa Citizen on Dec 18, 2025.

Six weeks after the federal government unveiled Budget 2025, its implications for the public service are becoming clearer and more troubling.

At the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, we’ve heard from members  that fighting outsourcing remains a top priority.

During the spring election, the Liberals promised to reduce the government’s reliance on external consultants, but it’s obvious that the budget moves Canada in the opposite direction. What was pitched as a plan for discipline, modernization and efficiency is instead accelerating a decade-long shift toward outside consultants and away from in-house expertise.

Rather than strengthening the public service, the federal government has chosen once again to double down on outsourcing — the practice of hiring private consultants to do work the public service can and should be doing. This is a bad habit that’s been quietly draining billions of dollars from federal coffers for years, all while weakening the very systems Canadians rely on.

Budget 2025 even claims it will “cut back” on private consultants, but the government’s own numbers tell a different story. Outsourcing has doubled since pre-pandemic levels, and spending on professional services is projected to hit $26.1 billion this year — a 37 per cent increase from last year and a record high.

Even if the government somehow achieves its promised 20 cent reduction, outsourcing would still be roughly double what it was a decade ago. Private contractors cost taxpayers up to 26 per cent more than public servants.

It’s not even close. At best, it’s a premium price tag for duplication, delay and dependency. At worst, it weakens the very systems Canadians rely on, such as food safety, emergency response, digital security and environmental protection.

The budget makes matters worse by cutting around 30,000 public service jobs  in addition to about 10,000 that were lost last year. Replacing skilled, permanent staff with contractors isn’t efficiency — it’s erosion. Fewer public servants and more outsourcing will leave departments stretched thin, less resilient, and increasingly dependent on private-sector firms to perform core government functions.

We’ve seen this play out before. Phoenix was sold as a cost-saving reform and became one of the largest administrative failures in federal history. Billions were wasted.  ArriveCAN began as a modest digital contract and ballooned into a $60-million fiasco. Both were built by outside firms. Both continue to cost Canadians.

Contrast that with what happened when emergency struck during the COVID-19 pandemic: it was public servants — not consultants — who designed and delivered the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)  system in just six weeks. There were no million-dollar contracts, no glossy branding and no chaos. That’s what real efficiency looks like.

If the government wants to balance the books, it should reduce contractor waste before cutting scientists, analysts and inspectors. Build capacity before buying another quick fix. Canadians want a government that works for them — not one that looks “efficient” on paper while paying more to get less.

If we want real results, we need to look at who’s actually doing the work. It’s not consultants in corporate boardrooms; it’s the public servants in labs, offices, and control rooms who keep the country running.

Budget 2025 was a chance to rebuild public capacity and chart a smarter, self-reliant course. Instead, it repeats the mistakes of previous governments.

Outsourcing doesn’t make government leaner — it makes it weaker. You can’t cut your way to competence, and you can’t outsource efficiency.