Poilievre Promises to Shrink Public Service

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he would cut the federal public service but is indifferent to whether employees work remotely, as long as they get their work done. He argues that government services, such as passport and immigration processing, are inefficient and attributes rising deficits to an expanded bureaucracy.

The public service grew from 257,034 workers in 2015 to 367,772 in 2024. Poilievre blames the Liberals for hiring 110,000 additional staff, though he has not specified how many he would cut or how he would monitor productivity.

Federal unions oppose his stance. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) supports remote work, saying it reduces costs and pollution. PSAC and other unions argue that cutting jobs would harm essential services and that outsourcing is a bigger financial burden.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh criticized Poilievre, saying job cuts would hurt workers and communities. Some union leaders also accused Poilievre of lacking understanding of the public service and called for modernization instead of layoffs.