What’s in store for the federal public service in 2024?

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Published Jan 03, 2024 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 10 minute read

President of the Treasury Board Anita Anand after a year-end interview in downtown Ottawa on Dec. 14, 2023. Photo by Photo by JULIE OLIVER, illustration by POSTMEDIA

Things could get quite exciting as the calendar kicks over to 2024, according to experts who say both the changing political context and the financial environment will have a major impact on Canada’s public service. Here’s a look at some of what’s to come this year.

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Spending review and the federal budget

Ahead of the release of the 2024 federal budget, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) Chris Aylward said the union is “keeping an eye” on potential cuts within the public service, especially given the government’s priority of reducing spending.

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The 2023 federal budget introduced a plan to cut $15.4 billion in spending over five years and $4.5 billion annually thereafter, outlining that departments and agencies would work to reduce spending on operations and transfer payments by three per cent by 2026-27.

While details have already been shared about how $500 million in spending on consulting, other professional services, and travel has been cut from the 2023–24 budgets of 68 departments, further details about how organizations will be affected by the government’s refocused spending plan are to be shared by March.

Previously, the federal government reinforced that it did not expect the cuts would lead to layoffs outside of normal attrition and redeployment.

When asked about whether this is still the case, Treasury Board president Anita Anand said the government is still in the “examination of the proposals mode,” adding that each minister has the discretion to examine how to reach spending reduction targets.

“It is really an across-the-board examination of where in the system can there be savings, and so there was an intent to ensure that all of the savings were not drawn from any one area…so operating budgets should not be slashed and burned to the extent that we couldn’t function in that particular department,” Anand said. “It’s still really in progress.”

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PSAC national president Chris Aylward. Photo by Jean Levac /Postmedia

Aylward said he has concerns about how both the public service and service delivery will be affected.

“Attrition, that’s job loss,” Aylward said. “You’re talking about not filling those positions when people go out the door.”

Gilles LeVasseur, a professor of management and law at the University of Ottawa, said the government is going to have to make tough choices about what to “drop” to eventually balance the budget and streamline areas that aren’t productive.

An election down the line

A federal election is on its way, with the big day to take place on or before Oct. 20, 2025.

But if an election is called earlier, Aylward said PSAC would be monitoring the situation to try to avoid cuts to the public service, noting that the union doesn’t feel that Conservative Leader of the Official Opposition Pierre Poilievre is good for workers. He noted that even if an election is not held in 2024, “political jockeying” will likely have an impact on public servants.

“If there is an election coming, we are going to be very concerned about a potential Conservative government,” Aylward said, recalling former prime minister Stephen Harper’s Deficit Reduction Action Plan (DRAP), which tasked departments with reviewing spending to find savings between five and 10 per cent.

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“The 10 years of Stephen Harper, which were atrocious…that will be a walk in the park, compared to what Pierre Poilievre would do.”

Michael Wernick, former clerk of the Privy Council for Canada, said it will be difficult for the government to start any new substantial projects and get legislation through before this Parliament expires. For some parts of the public service, he said the focus will be on dealing with a “pile of unfinished business.”

“Once the House comes back in January from its Christmas break, it’s going to be down to, if Parliament goes the distance, about 500 calendar days until we’re the summer of 2025 and in an election mode,” Wernick said. “There’s only about 220 days of quality parliamentary time to do stuff, and that’s if they go the distance.”

In a statement, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) Jennifer Carr said that, regardless of the outcome of a possible election, it is necessary to get the public service “right” as Canadians are relying on government services more amid the rising cost of living and the country’s aging population.

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“This is the only way Canadians will continue to receive the services that they expect and that they support through their tax dollars,” Carr said.

Anand said the government expects an election in 2025 and that she plans to run in Oakville, which she has represented since 2019.

Jennifer Carr, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada. Photo by Julie Oliver /Postmedia

Wernick said that, while the government has expressed that it’s serious about reducing its dependency on outside advisors and consultants, little has been done to increase the capacity of public service.

“There’s no evidence that they’re really putting any serious time and attention into public service capabilities or public service reform,” Wernick said, adding that the government hasn’t “come to grips” with training and technology. “Frankly, I don’t think they’ll do it in the last 15 months of a government. I don’t really expect them to, either.”

Carr said training and upskilling will “help prepare today’s public servants for tomorrow’s offices.”

She noted that she’d like to see the government approach artificial intelligence with “caution and transparency,” through a legal framework, guidelines and an independent agency with more power to research and regulate the technology.

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Union bargaining

Much of 2024 will be spent preparing for the following year, said Aylward, noting that all of PSAC’s federal public sector bargaining units’ collective agreements expire in 2025.

“That means next year we’re going to be winding up for another round of bargaining with the federal government,” Aylward said.

One of Aylward’s priorities will be to make changes to the bargaining process to speed it up, as it can take years to reach a deal under the current system.

PSAC and the federal government reached a tentative agreement for the Program and Administrative Services, Operational Services, Technical Services and the Education and Library Science groups of workers in 2023, after almost two years of bargaining and one of the largest strikes in Canadian history.

One solution, Aylward said, would be to get rid of the Public Interest Commission process — a three-person panel mandated by the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board to assist parties in reaching an agreement. Often a multi-month process, Aylward said the PIC system is “a waste of time,” especially as the results are not enforceable.

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But Wernick said it seems unlikely this would be a legislative priority “for dwindling house time” before the next election, especially as the next bargaining round will land with the next government.

“It is probably a good idea to try to streamline but I doubt the machinery actually makes much difference,” Wernick said. “The bargaining dynamics matter most. If there is a will to reach a deal it will happen fast, as we saw in Ontario, but if the two sides are dug in it is going to take more time or escalate as we saw with the federal strike and are seeing in Quebec right now.”

Former clerk of the Privy Council for Canada, Michael Wernick. Photo by Wayne Cuddington /Ottawa Citizen

Aylward said PSAC is reflecting on “lessons learned” from the public service strike last spring and is engaging with members to hear what they’d like to see achieved in the next round of negotiations.

Patrick Groom, a labour lawyer and partner with McMillian LLP, said collective bargaining is going to happen more quickly given that the last round – particularly in the case of the PSAC – wasn’t concluded until well into the life of the current agreement.

“It’s almost like we’re in a perpetual state of negotiations,” Groom said. “We’re going to see, I think, negotiations in many public sectors, both federal and provincial, who are in the same boat, renewing collective bargaining.”

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He added that many unions agreed to small gains or short-term agreements to due inflation and the residual effects of COVID, meaning that they will now be looking to “regain ground.”

‘Looking for stronger wording’ on remote work

Groom said remote work will likely remain a contentious issue in the next round of bargaining, as PSAC and the government look to solidify language outlined in a letter of agreement separate from their contracts. He added that other public sector unions across Canada are going to at least look to replicate what was achieved by the federal union, despite the agreement being somewhat vague.

Aylward said PSAC is going to continue working with departments and agencies to set up panels to review workers’ remote work grievances, as outlined in the document. He added that the letter – which committed to the creation of a joint consultation committee to review the government’s directive on telework – was “open for too much interpretation.

“We’ve negotiated language that basically gives our members the right to be heard if they’re refused, now, we are having some issues with Treasury Board, we don’t seem to be on the same page as to exactly what that’s supposed to look like,” Aylward said, adding that PSAC will be “looking for stronger wording” during bargaining.

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Wernick said he believes the issue of remote work and how it will be interpreted by public servants is representative of a generational divide that’s growing within the government.

Improving public servants’ health plan

Since the government implemented coverage changes to public servants’ health plan on July 1, with its administration transferring from Sun Life to Canada Life, hundreds of government workers have spoken out about challenges in accessing benefits, reaching customer support and getting claims reimbursed.

While the changes to the plan were made following negotiations with retiree representatives and federal unions, including the Public Service Alliance of Canada, Aylward said the rollout has been “totally unacceptable.”

Aylward said the union plans to continue to lobby the government, appear before parliamentary committees and hold rallies to bring attention to the issue. He likened the situation to ongoing challenges with the Phoenix pay system, which will have been going for eight years as of next year, and said the union will continue to advocate for the system to be fixed and for public servants to receive damages.

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“(Canada Life has) to start living up to the contractual obligations, because they have not done that yet,” Aylward said. “They apologized… I’m sorry, but our members can’t deposit that in their bank account.”

Anand said her team has been in contact with Canada Life every week. She said both call centre wait times and the backlog for reimbursements have declined and that an escalation process had been introduced.

“The ability of our government to work with Canada Life is clear and we will continue to do that so that people can access their benefits as quickly as possible,” Anand said.

Gilles LeVasseur, lawyer, economist and professor. Photo by Craig Robertson /Postmedia

Growing an international presence

LeVasseur said that, given ongoing conflicts around the world, the government is going to have to continue to invest resources into Global Affairs Canada as diplomats will be needed abroad.

“That means a more active Global Affairs around the world, that means a very interventionist approach because one of the things that we don’t want to lose is a vote on the Security Council,” LeVasseur said. “The world is getting more and more complex and that means that we need to be more prepared to face those challenges.”

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Addressing discrimination within the public service

Anand said a priority of hers in the year ahead will be tackling discrimination within the government.

The minister said a recently assembled panel’s work is already underway to consult with groups and organizations and put together recommendations for a “restorative engagement program” to address discrimination, violence and harassment in the federal public service, with the group to share what they’ve learned in 2024.

Acknowledging that the government pledged almost $46 million in the last budget to create a mental health fund for Black public servants and establish career development programs, Anand said that ensuring non-discrimination and equality has been a priority of hers. She did not share whether she would be pushing for more funds to be put towards tackling discrimination within the public service in the upcoming budget.

While the federal government recently announced its commitment to creating new designated groups for Black and 2SLGBTQI+ people in the Employment Equity Act, advocates say it’s time for the government to also settle the Black Class Action lawsuit filed in 2020, claiming Black public servants have endured decades of systemic racism and discrimination.

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Aylward said PSAC will continue to support the Black Class Action Secretariat, working with the group to provide them with financial resources.

“It’s not just for our Black members necessarily, because it’s going to have a much further reaching effect,” Aylward said. “It’s going to reach out into our racialized members, our Indigenous members, as well. At least that’s the hope.”

Carr said PIPSC also supports the plaintiffs and that the union has also undertaken measures to hear from members about how it can better support Black workers.

In predicting what might happen next year, Wernick pointed out that circumstances can quickly change.

“If we’d had this conversation around Christmas of 2019, we would have missed the pandemic,” Wernick said. “If we’d had it around Christmas of 2021, we would have missed the occupation of Ottawa, the Emergencies Act. Around Christmas 2022, how many people thought we would have a two-week strike?”

Public Service Notebook