Canada’s parliamentary budget office released a report on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, indicating that the federal public service has lost more than 23,000 employees over the past two years. The figure represents a net reduction in staff across the entire federal bureaucracy, according to the watchdog’s latest data.
The parliamentary budget office, which serves as the nation’s parliamentary spending watchdog, compiles information on the size and cost of the public service for the benefit of Parliament. Its current analysis shows a cumulative loss of 23,000 staffers since the beginning of the two‑year period under review.
The report covers the federal public service as a whole, encompassing all departments and agencies that fall under the umbrella of Canada’s central government. By aggregating personnel data from these entities, the office arrived at the total number of positions eliminated or not filled during the timeframe.
No further breakdown of the reductions by department, region, or job category was included in the release. The watchdog also did not provide commentary on the reasons behind the decline, focusing instead on presenting the raw staffing numbers for parliamentary scrutiny.
The office emphasized that its role is to supply transparent, up‑to‑date information on public spending and workforce levels to elected officials. It noted that continued monitoring of staffing trends will be a feature of future reports, allowing Parliament to assess the ongoing evolution of the federal workforce.
Stakeholders and observers will likely review the data as part of broader discussions about the size and efficiency of the public service, but the parliamentary budget office’s statement remains limited to the reported loss of more than 23,000 employees over the two‑year period.