Why Is the CRA Laying Off Temporary Workers?
The decision was made after the federal government and the Treasury Board revealed their plan to reduce public service jobs by 5,000 through “natural attrition”.
Context
The CRA will lay off hundreds of temporary workers, mainly debt collectors and auditors, to prioritize tax resources and save costs. This stems from the federal government’s plan to cut 5,000 public service roles through natural attrition as pandemic-era programs are no longer required.
Analysis
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that hundreds of temporary workers will be laid off within the next month.
The CRA suggested that the organization will make the cuts to prioritize tax filing resources and that most of the 580 layoffs will be debt collectors, with some being auditors. In May this year, the organization also revealed plans not to extend contracts for 2,000 call centre workers.
Marc Brière, the National President of the Union of Taxation Employees, suggested that the cut to debt collector jobs “doesn’t make sense” given how much money these positions bring into the organization.
These positions bring in between one and five billion per year, with maximum salaries being $73,000.
While the agency maintains they are striving to achieve savings and minimize the impact on employees, there is concern that cutting temporary workers, including casual, fixed-term and student positions, may prevent young people from entering public service.
This decision was made after the federal government and the Treasury Board revealed their plan to reduce public service jobs by 5,000 through “natural attrition”.
Many of these jobs were created during the pandemic in response to increased programming and support for Canadians. The government is now moving away from the pandemic operations.
According to PSAC, the government is now casting a wider net and “looking to cut term and casual employees”.
Brière has been informed that no additional layoffs will come this year and that permanent jobs will not be affected in the future. However, hiring restrictions and cuts to non-critical overtime may be considered as the situation evolves.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland projected that April 2025’s budget will include a $40-billion deficit. This is in addition to Canada’s growing national debt, which has doubled in the last nine years to $1.4 trillion.
The Treasury Board has instructed government departments to reduce spending to meet saving targets of $15 billion over the next four years. Departments and agencies were given until November 20 to reduce their budgets.