By Canadian Press

Unions welcome federal budget promise to cap outsourcing, but fear service cuts

Mar 29, 2023 | 12:53 PM

OTTAWA — The federal government says in this year’s federal budget that it will begin a new belt-tightening exercise that includes a 15 per cent cut to consulting, travel and other professional services — a move that has public-sector unions expressing mixed feelings. 

Unions representing thousands of federal public servants are welcoming the Liberal government’s decision to scale back on outsourcing, which Tuesday’s budget says would result in savings of $7.1 billion over the course of five years and $1.7 billion each year after that. 

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada says the decision will protect the public service from relying too much on management consultants, in particular, as the federal Liberals face scrutiny over contracts to firms such as McKinsey & Company.

But the head of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents more than 150,000 federal workers, is raising alarm bells about another budget promise to reduce government spending overall by roughly three per cent or $7 billion over the next three years.

Its national president, Chris Aylward, says the government cannot find billions of dollars in savings without cutting services that Canadians rely on, though he says that the outsourcing cutbacks are a positive step forward.

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Former top civil servant Michael Wernick says it is not unwarranted for the union to be concerned about cuts, but he says he thinks that layoffs in the public service are unlikely.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2023. 

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press