As budget looms, Champagne warns federal workforce must return to ‘more sustainable’ level

Ottawa·NewLess than a week before he unveils the federal government’s next budget, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says the size of the public service must return to “something more sustainable.”Finance minister makes comparison to pre-pandemic timesGuy Quenneville · CBC News · Posted: Oct 29, 2025 5:45 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesMinister of Finance and National Revenue Francois-Philippe Champagne speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, on Wednesday. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)Less than a week before he unveils the federal government’s next budget, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says the size of the public service must return to “something more sustainable.”Champagne made his remarks Wednesday after announcing funding for women and 2SLGBTQ+ communities that will be included in the budget, to be tabled on Tuesday.During the news conference that followed, he was asked what people can expect for the size of the federal service. “I’ve been very clear to Canadians, to our expenditure review, we have to make tough choices. There’s nothing easy when you’re looking at that,” the minister replied.There could be “workforce adjustments” as the government looks to improve processes, merge programs within departments and use better technology, he said. WATCH | ‘We have been fair,’ Champagne says:Government will make ‘workforce adjustments’ in a ‘smart way’: finance ministerAhead of next week’s federal budget, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says the government has been fair and balanced in making ‘tough choices’ around cuts to civil service.Asked if attrition alone would be enough to reach the government’s spending reduction targets, Champagne said the size of the civil service is “not sustainable.””If you look at how many people we have today, and what we had before COVID-19, we need to get back to something more sustainable,” he said. “But we’re going to be very compassionate with how we do it.”  According to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, 287,983 people worked for the federal government in 2019. That figure climbed to over 300,000 in 2020 and stood at 367,772 as of last year.