Federal Budget: Government plans deep public service cuts and weakens workers’ bargaining rights

Federal Budget: Government Plans Deep Public Service Cuts

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) expresses strong concern over the federal government's 2025 budget, which aims to reduce essential public services, cut over 40,000 federal jobs, and weaken collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of workers.

Despite the challenges posed by a growing and aging population, Budget 2025 proposes to eliminate key programs and services over the next three years. It also plans to replace workers with artificial intelligence under the Comprehensive Expenditure Review (CER).

"These deep public service cuts will hurt workers, families and communities across Canada," said PSAC National President Sharon DeSousa. "People can expect longer wait times for passports, EI and child care benefits, more unanswered calls at Canada Revenue Agency, reduced public health and food safety efforts, and a government that isn’t there for ordinary people when they need it most.”

Rather than investing in frontline services and supporting the workers essential to Canada’s functioning, the government is focusing on job cuts and AI chatbots, which threatens to weaken the country’s social safety net.

Impacts of the Budget Cuts

Longer wait times for passport processing, employment insurance, and child care benefits
More unanswered calls at the Canada Revenue Agency
Reduced efforts in public health and food safety programs
Weakened government support for ordinary Canadians in times of need

PSAC’s Position

PSAC highlights that these measures will negatively impact not only public service workers but also millions of Canadians who rely on these services daily.

Concerns over AI Replacements

The shift toward artificial intelligence as a replacement for human workers raises risks to service quality and accessibility.

Author’s summary: The 2025 federal budget’s significant public service cuts and prioritization of AI over human workers threaten vital services and the wellbeing of Canadian communities.

Public Service Alliance of Canada — 2025-11-05