Carney says federal public service cuts will happen through attrition

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at an announcement for the new federal agency Build Canada Homes, in Ottawa, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Amid concerns of potential job cuts, Prime Minister Mark Carney says any reduction of the size of the federal public service will “happen naturally through attrition.”

Carney made the remarks while speaking to reporters at a housing announcement in Ottawa on Sunday.

When asked whether he will keep the Liberal party’s election pledge to cap and not cut the public service as a way to rein in spending, Carney said the federal government will be “managing through” as “people leave employment.”

“The cap relates to the overall level and the adjustments that will happen naturally through attrition,” Carney said.

“There’s a certain age cohort in the public sector. People leave employment, whether it’s in the public or private sector for a variety of reasons. Attractive opportunities outside, retirement on the other side. So we’ll be managing through that.”

Carney has recently described the upcoming federal budget as one of both “austerity” and “investment,” prompting some to question whether that “austerity” could result in job cuts, amid billions of dollars in new spending commitments for defence and tariff supports.

The Liberal election platform also pledged to protect public programs like child care, dental care and pharmacare, while also eliminating $15 billion a year by 2028 to bring revenues in line with operational spending.

In an interview with CTV’s Question Period on Sunday, Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon acknowledged the upcoming budget will involve “tough choices,” but said the government is not undertaking its spending review “with a view to reducing head count.”

• Government House leader warns of ‘tough choices’ ahead of fall budget

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, along with Treasury Board President Shafqat Ali, asked ministers over the summer to find up to 15 per cent in savings in day-to-day operational spending over the next three years.

• Mark Carney’s cabinet told to present savings plans by the end of the summer

When asked by reporters earlier this month about the potential for public service cuts, Champagne said “there’ll be adjustments in different places.”

A report from the parliamentary budget officer, released in August, estimated the federal government would spend $71.1 billion on public service personnel in 2024–25, rising to $76.2 billion by 2029–30.

The size of the federal public service has grown by more than 100,000 workers over the past 10 years, from 257,034 in 2015 to 357,965 in 2025. That number has decreased, however, by nearly 10,000 employees since last year.

In a statement to CTV News on Monday, Public Service Alliance of Canada National President Sharon Desousa called Carney’s comments about attrition “flat out misleading and ignore the hard truth facing Canada’s public services.”

“Thousands of permanent public service workers have already been told their jobs are being cut – not through retirement and voluntarily leaving the public service as the prime minister claims, but through direct layoffs,” Desousa said, adding “The federal government’s austerity agenda is lazy, reckless, short-sighted – and puts the entire country at risk.”

On Sunday, when asked about the deficit in the upcoming budget, Carney also admitted it would be “substantial” due to tariff supports, defence spending and tax cuts to help with affordability.

“Substantial means it’ll be bigger than it was last year,” Carney said.

The fall economic statement released back in December projected the 2024-25 deficit to be $48.3 billion.