The Canada Revenue Agency is cutting up to 280 permanent employees in response to fiscal constraints.
The workforce changes will impact branches across the CRA but the reductions will mainly impact employees in the National Capital Region.
Commissioner Bob Hamilton and deputy commissioner Jean-François Fortin said in a message to staff Thursday that executive positions are also being impacted by the reductions.
The message said the CRA will run voluntary departure programs over the coming months.
The Government of Canada website says that permanent employees affected by workforce adjustment processes will receive a “reasonable job offer” when possible for another position in the public service.
However, the message says that won’t be the case this time around.
“Unlike previous (workforce adjustments), due to fiscal constraints, guaranteed reasonable job offers cannot be provided to most of the employees affected,” it says.
Affected employees have already been contacted by management.
The message says the CRA is taking steps to meet required government savings after examining its operating budget over the last two years.
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It also says that while the agency’s priorities and strategic direction remain unchanged, it’s clear that adjustments to the workforce will change how it delivers on them.
“We need to reassess the way we work, which will involve reconsidering the number of projects we undertake, streamlining processes and governance, and pursuing innovation to further optimize our work and the services we offer,” the message reads.
“It is likely that some internal services will be impacted, with some services being eliminated entirely.”
Earlier this month, the Union of Taxation Employees announced that the Canada Revenue Agency wouldn’t renew contracts for more than 1,000 term workers across the country. More than 3,000 jobs at the agency have been cut since 2024, the union says, including debt collector and call centre positions.
CRA spokesman Etienne Biram says a number of factors have impacted the CRA’s budget in recent years, including the sunsetting of COVID program funding.
As of 2024, 59,155 people worked at the Canada Revenue Agency, up from 45,019 in 2020, when the pandemic hit. In 2019, the size of the CRA was 43,908.
In light of the new cuts, the Union of Taxation Employees says it’s demanding accountability from the Government of Canada and calling for “an immediate moratorium” on job cuts at CRA.
“With every position eliminated, processing delays grow longer, calls go unanswered, files pile up, and citizens are left behind in uncertainty,” union head Marc Brière said in a news release Friday.
“Those who remain are being pushed beyond their limits—expected to do more with less, while working under mounting stress and growing job insecurity.”
The federal public service has shrunk for the first time in a decade, Treasury Board Secretariat data shows.
Between 2024 and 2025, the number of government employees has dropped by 10,000, from 367,772 to 357,965.
In 2015, there were 258,979 people working for the federal government, with that number increasing until now.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
