Federal workforce in the Ottawa area continues to grow


CBC
Fri, January 5, 2024 

Part of the Place du Portage federal government complex in Gatineau, Que., a major hub for federal workers in the National Capital Region. (Christian Patry/Radio-Canada - image credit)

The National Capital Region's public service ranks grew by 8,360 people over the most recent fiscal year to sit at 130,611 workers as of the end of March 2023, according to an annual report.

Government employees make up nearly half of the workforce in the capital region, which has a population of about 1.5 million and covers Ottawa-Gatineau and other nearby communities such as Almonte, Chelsea, Pakenham and Val-des-Monts.

They're 47.6 per cent of the region's 274,219 workers — including students and both casual and long-term staff — covered by the Public Service Employment Act. That share of Ottawa-area workers has edged up four of the last five years.

Overall, the national civil servant workforce grew by more than 16,600 people in the 2022-23 fiscal year, according to the Public Service Commission of Canada's report.

If you just look at hires, 71,200 people were brought in from outside the public service in 2022-23, up about 10 per cent or 6,400 hires from the year prior.

The report notes Indigenous people and people with disabilities were underrepresented in its applicant pool. This was before changes in July 2023 that try to create "a more inclusive and diverse public service" by removing barriers in the hiring process.

A few days before the end of the 2022-23 fiscal year, the federal budget included cutting $15.4 billion in spending over five years through "targeted reductions."

Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre has long been telling voters he'll run a smaller, more limited government.

THE HARPER CONSERVATIVES INCREASED THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE AS WELL