OTTAWA (Ontario), August 5, 2026 — With climate disasters intensifying across Canada, federal public service professionals gathered on the York Steps along Sussex Drive to warn that government cuts to the public service are undermining Canada’s ability to prepare, prevent and respond to emergencies.
The lunchtime event featured split images contrasting iconic Canadian summers of the past with the floods-and-fires reality of today. The displays asked people to consider what Canada loses when public scientific capacity is cut.
“The government’s own briefing made clear there is a growing wildfire risk across the country,” said Sean O’Reilly, President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada. “What it didn’t explain is why it is cutting the tools and experts behind flood monitoring, severe weather research, wildfire mapping, emergency warnings, and climate resilience.”
Among those affected by cuts are experts who map wildfires and floods, monitor air quality, study threats to Canada’s forests, and strengthen severe weather forecasting. Cuts further include the 24/7 Weather Radio — a battery-powered emergency alert system critical to northern, remote and indigenous communities who also face disproportionate climate impacts.
“Last year, Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Deputy Minister warned there was nothing left to cut without affecting the department’s core mandate,” said O’Reilly. “That should have been a warning — not a roadmap.”
PIPSC says Canadians deserve clear information about what scientific work will no longer be done, what expertise is being lost and what risks the government is creating through its workforce decisions.
“Climate resilience isn’t built during an emergency press conference. It’s built every day over years by the experts working long before disaster strikes,” said O’Reilly. “Canadians shouldn’t have to discover the consequences of these cuts during the next emergency; they deserve to understand the risks now.”
At the event, federal scientists and other PIPSC members handed out leaflets about the vital work that helps Canada prepare for disasters before they happen.
“It is time for the federal government to protect the expertise Canadians rely on, and base workforce decisions on evidence and public risk—not arbitrary fiscal targets,” said O’Reilly “As well as publish a public risk assessment before making any further reductions to scientific and technical capacity.”
PIPSC represents over 80,000 public-sector professionals across the country, most of them employed by the federal government. Follow us on Facebook, on Blueskyand on Instagram.
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For more information: PIPSC Media Relations, media@pipsc.ca
