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Note

PBO releases the “Federal Employment Tracking Tool”

Marianne Laurin
Published on September 15, 2026 PDF(opens a new window)

This note provides an overview of the Parliamentary Budget Office’s (PBO) new Federal Employment Tracking Tool as well as analysis of recent trends in the federal public service workforce.

In Budget 2025, the government announced reductions in the size of the federal public service through the Comprehensive Expenditure Review (CER) starting in 2026-27. The government stated that the CER would contribute to ongoing reductions in the size of the federal public service, resulting in “a decline of about 40,000 positions or 10 per cent” [^1] by 2028-29 relative to its 2023-24 level. This marks a shift from the trend observed over the previous decade, during which the federal public service expanded continuously at an average annual growth rate of 4.1 per cent, rising from 249,000 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in 2015-16 to 358,000 FTEs in 2024-25.

PBO developed the Federal Employment Tracking Tool to support the oversight and analysis of employment trends on a timely basis. The tool provides detailed data and interactive visualizations by quarter and fiscal year for all departments and agencies, as well as insights on recent changes in federal government staffing levels. Information is based on underlying monthly data and will be updated quarterly as new data is available from departments. The federal government currently provides public employment data by department and agency on an annual basis only.

The information presented by quarter and fiscal year in the tool reflects monthly employment data obtained from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). [^2] The data provided by TBS from federal pay systems details the monthly headcount as well as the sum of monthly hours worked for each department in the Core Public Administration and Separate Agencies of the federal public service. Using this data, PBO calculated the number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) by department, converting the total hours worked into an equivalent number of full-time positions. The data is further broken down by employment tenure.

There are two concepts to measure the size of the federal public service:

  1. Headcount: Number of individuals employed by the federal public service
  2. Full-time equivalents (FTEs): Number of full-time positions based on total hours worked by all employees

The concept of employment tenure corresponds to the nature of the appointment to the public service. There are four types of federal employment tenure:

  1. Indeterminate: an employee appointed for an unspecified duration
  2. Term: an employee appointed for a specified duration
  3. Casual: an employee appointed for a period not exceeding 90 working days in one calendar year
  4. Student: an employee appointed under one of the federal government’s student employment programs

Additional data was provided by DND and RCMP on the monthly headcount of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Regular Force and RCMP members. [^3]

The Federal Employment Tracking Tool allows users to explore recent federal workforce developments and historical staffing trends through the following features:

  • A dashboard providing an overview of recent quarterly and annual changes in the total headcount and number of FTEs in the federal public service, including a breakdown by employment tenure as well as details on departments with the largest variations over the reference period.

  • An interactive chart displaying historical trends in the total headcount and number of FTEs in the federal public service broken down by employment tenure, from 2015-16 to the latest quarter available.

  • An interactive chart allowing a side-by-side comparison of trends in headcount and FTEs between selected federal departments. Users can also select the employment tenure for additional insights.

The interactive data visualizations show a long-standing growth trend in the size of the federal public service between 2015 and 2024, peaking on a monthly basis at 367,000 FTEs in June 2024[^4], followed by a sustained decline to 342,000 FTEs in June 2026. On a fiscal year basis, the average annual number of FTEs fell from 358,000 in 2024-25 to 344,000 in 2025-26.

Monthly Full-Time Equivalents, April 2024 to June 2026

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer

Monthly totals of FTEs exclude Regular Force members of the Canadian Armed Forces, regular and civilian members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as well as employees locally engaged outside of Canada. As a result, monthly FTE counts differ from the annual total number of FTEs reported in the 2026-27 Departmental Plans.

Between the second quarter of 2025 and 2026, the size of the federal public service decreased by about 9,000 FTEs. Most federal departments recorded year-over-year workforce reductions, with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) recording the largest decrease, at about 3,000 FTEs. Approximately 90 per cent of the reductions across departments were among indeterminate positions over the last year, marking a shift from the previous fiscal year, during which the reductions were concentrated among term, casual and student positions. [^5]

The government-wide reductions were partly offset by significant increases in civilian employees of the Department of National Defence (DND) as well as in CAF Regular Force members. Between June 2025 and 2026, DND recorded an increase of about 3,000 FTEs in its civilian workforce and 3,000 CAF Regular Force members.

Moving forward, PBO will explore the feasibility of releasing monthly data for each department and agency through the Federal Employment Tracking Tool.

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No errata have been issued for this publication.

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Communications

Quotes

  • In the past decade, federal public service employment expanded steadily, rising from 249,000 full-time equivalents in 2015-16 to 358,000 in 2024-25 on an annual basis. This new tool will help Parliamentarians and Canadians hold the government to account on a more real-time basis on its commitment from Budget 2025 to reduce the size of the federal public service by “about 40,000 positions or 10 per cent” by 2028-29. Our tracker will follow federal employment changes by quarter and fiscal year for every department and agency in an easy-to-use format.

  • Parliamentarians need reliable and readily available information in order to review changes in government employment levels in order to question Ministers about what that means for public services to Canadians. This tool provides them with objective, timely data that they can use to support their work.

Annette Ryan
Parliamentary Budget Officer

News Release

{"id":98,"created_at":"2026-09-14T15:42:12-04:00","updated_at":"2026-09-15T09:02:41-04:00","slug":"parliamentary-budget-office-launches-new-federal-employment-tracking-tool-le-bureau-de-la-directrice-parlementaire-du-budget-lance-un-nouvel-outil-de-suivi-de-lemploi-federal","title_en":"Parliamentary Budget Office Launches New Federal Employment Tracking Tool","title_fr":"Le Bureau de la directrice parlementaire du budget lance un nouvel outil de suivi de l\u2019emploi f\u00e9d\u00e9ral","body_en":"The Parliamentary Budget Office launched a new, interactive federal employment tracking tool to help parliamentarians and Canadians better understand changes in the federal public service.\n\nThe Federal Employment Tracking Tool contains detailed information about the federal public service workforce and full-time equivalents (FTEs). The tool lets users explore recent and historical employment trends across the entire government or by department, agency and type of employment on a quarterly basis. The federal government currently provides public employment data by department and agency on an annual basis only.\n\nAs Parliamentary Budget Officer Annette Ryan explained, \u201cIn the past decade, federal public service employment expanded steadily, rising from 249,000 full-time equivalents in 2015-16 to 358,000 in 2024-25 on an annual basis. This new tool will help Parliamentarians and Canadians hold the government to account on a more real-time basis on its commitment from Budget 2025 to reduce the size of the federal public service by \u201cabout 40,000 positions or 10 per cent\u201d by 2028-29. Our tracker will follow federal employment changes by quarter and fiscal year for every department and agency in an easy-to-use format.\u201d\n\nStaff-related expenses are the federal government\u2019s biggest operating expenditure. By providing easy and transparent access to these data, the tool aims to support the work of parliamentarians in overseeing public finances and reviewing government staffing decisions.\n\n\u0022Parliamentarians need reliable and readily available information in order to review changes in government employment levels in order to question Ministers about what that means for public services to Canadians. This tool provides them with objective, timely data that they can use to support their work,\u201d said Ms. Ryan.\n\nThe new tool includes two complementary measurements:\n\u2022\tthe workforce, measuring the number of individuals employed by the federal public service;\n\u2022\tfull-time equivalents (FTE), measuring the number of hours worked and how the work force is being used.\n\nThe data were calculated by the PBO based on monthly information obtained from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the Department of National Defence and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.\n\nThis tool is now available on the PBO website and will be updated quarterly going forward.","body_fr":"Le Bureau de la directrice parlementaire du budget (BDPB) a lanc\u00e9 aujourd\u2019hui un nouvel outil interactif de suivi de l\u2019emploi f\u00e9d\u00e9ral, con\u00e7u pour aider les parlementaires et les Canadiens \u00e0 mieux comprendre l\u2019\u00e9volution de la fonction publique f\u00e9d\u00e9rale.\n\nL\u2019outil de suivi de l\u2019emploi f\u00e9d\u00e9ral pr\u00e9sente des donn\u00e9es d\u00e9taill\u00e9es sur l\u2019effectif et les \u00e9quivalents temps plein (ETP) au sein de la fonction publique f\u00e9d\u00e9rale. L\u2019outil permet d\u2019explorer les tendances r\u00e9centes et historiques de l\u2019emploi dans l\u2019ensemble de l\u2019administration f\u00e9d\u00e9rale ou selon le minist\u00e8re ou l\u2019organisme et le type d\u2019emploi, sur une base trimestrielle. Le gouvernement f\u00e9d\u00e9ral publie actuellement des donn\u00e9es sur l\u2019emploi par minist\u00e8re et organisme uniquement sur une base annuelle.\n\n\u00ab Au cours de la derni\u00e8re d\u00e9cennie, l\u2019emploi dans la fonction publique f\u00e9d\u00e9rale a connu une croissance soutenue, passant de 249 000 \u00e9quivalents temps plein (ETP) en 2015-2016 \u00e0 358 000 en 2024-2025, selon les donn\u00e9es annuelles. Ce nouvel outil permettra aux parlementaires et aux Canadiens d\u2019assurer un suivi plus r\u00e9gulier de l\u2019engagement du gouvernement, pris dans le Budget 2025, de r\u00e9duire la taille de la fonction publique f\u00e9d\u00e9rale d\u2019environ 40 000 postes, soit 10 %, d\u2019ici 2028-2029. Notre outil de suivi pr\u00e9sentera l\u2019\u00e9volution de l\u2019emploi f\u00e9d\u00e9ral par trimestre et par ann\u00e9e fiscale pour chaque minist\u00e8re et organisme dans un format facile \u00e0 utiliser \u00bb, explique Annette Ryan, directrice parlementaire du budget.\n\nLes d\u00e9penses li\u00e9es au personnel constituent la plus importante composante des d\u00e9penses de fonctionnement du gouvernement f\u00e9d\u00e9ral. En offrant un acc\u00e8s simple et transparent \u00e0 ces donn\u00e9es, l\u2019outil vise \u00e0 soutenir les travaux des parlementaires en mati\u00e8re de surveillance des finances publiques et d\u2019examen des d\u00e9cisions gouvernementales en mati\u00e8re de dotation.\n\n\u00ab Les parlementaires ont besoin de renseignements fiables et accessibles pour examiner l\u2019\u00e9volution des effectifs de la fonction publique et demander des comptes aux ministres quant aux r\u00e9percussions de ces changements sur les services offerts aux Canadiens. Cet outil leur fournit des donn\u00e9es objectives et opportunes pour appuyer leurs travaux \u00bb, ajoute Mme Ryan.\n\nLe nouvel outil pr\u00e9sente deux mesures compl\u00e9mentaires :\n\u2022\tl\u2019effectif, qui repr\u00e9sente le nombre de personnes employ\u00e9es dans la fonction publique f\u00e9d\u00e9rale;\n\u2022\tles \u00e9quivalents temps plein (ETP), qui mesurent l\u2019emploi en fonction des heures travaill\u00e9es et refl\u00e8tent l\u2019utilisation de la main-d\u2019\u0153uvre.\n\nLes donn\u00e9es sont calcul\u00e9es par le BDPB \u00e0 partir de donn\u00e9es mensuelles fournies par le Secr\u00e9tariat du Conseil du Tr\u00e9sor du Canada, le minist\u00e8re de la D\u00e9fense nationale et la Gendarmerie royale du Canada. \n\nCet outil est maintenant accessible sur le site Web du BDPB et fera l\u2019objet de mises \u00e0 jour trimestrielles.","release_date":"2026-09-15T09:00:00-04:00","is_published":"2026-09-15T08:57:10-04:00","appears_on_feed":false,"internal_id":"COM-2627-098","permalinks":{"en":{"website":"https:\/\/www.pbo-dpb.ca\/en\/blog\/news-releases--communiques-de-presse\/parliamentary-budget-office-launches-new-federal-employment-tracking-tool-le-bureau-de-la-directrice-parlementaire-du-budget-lance-un-nouvel-outil-de-suivi-de-lemploi-federal"},"fr":{"website":"https:\/\/www.pbo-dpb.ca\/fr\/blog\/news-releases--communiques-de-presse\/parliamentary-budget-office-launches-new-federal-employment-tracking-tool-le-bureau-de-la-directrice-parlementaire-du-budget-lance-un-nouvel-outil-de-suivi-de-lemploi-federal"}},"pivot":{"publication_id":912,"news_release_id":98}}