About 10,000 federal public servants apply for early retirement

Final number of approved early retirements won't be known for months

About 10,000 federal public servants applied for the government's early retirement incentive program before last week's deadline.

The program was available to 68,000 public servants who were notified of their eligibility to retire based on age and years of service, without incurring a permanent reduction of pension payouts that's typical of early retirement.

As part of the 2025 budget, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government pledged to cut the public service by 4.5 per cent, or 16,000 jobs, within three years. Some departments and agencies began their workforce adjustment process before the retirement incentive received royal assent.

The federal government predicted in the budget that the program will cost $1.5 billion over five years, with about half of that expense coming this year. It was expected to save taxpayers about $82 million annually, largely from pension contributions.

Federal public service shrinks by over 12,000 workers in 2026

The Professional Institute of the Public Service and the Public Service Alliance of Canada have both complained to the federal labour relations tribunal about the early retirement program.

The government's 2025 budget goal was to shrink the public service to about 330,000 workers by this March. As of late March, the workforce numbered about 345,000.

The government confirmed that of the 10,006 applications it had received by July 28, 6,855 employees met the criteria for early retirement and 41 were denied.

The final number is expected in early 2027.