PHAC cutting hundreds of jobs as part of ‘post-pandemic recalibration’

The Public Health Agency of Canada is cutting roughly 10 per cent of its employees as it continues to shrink its workforce in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As part of PHAC’s post-pandemic recalibration and ongoing efforts to adjust to new salary allocations, the agency must focus resources on government-funded priorities. This means re-prioritizing and streamlining some programs, and in some cases discontinuing work,” an agency spokesperson said in an email to CBC News.

Numbers have yet to be finalized, but the spokesperson estimates roughly 320 jobs will be cut. Letters to impacted employees are expected to go out next week.

The cuts are on top of others that were made earlier this year. As it stands, PHAC employs just over 3,000 workers.

“No decisions are being made lightly. PHAC’s goal is to move forward with a renewed focus on sustainability and public health impact,” the agency’s spokesperson said.

The agency was key for federal messaging and co-ordination during the pandemic. 

Prior to 2020, PHAC employed over 2,300 people. That number nearly doubled to over 4,200 employees in 2022.

The latest job cuts are not part of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s plans to cut public sector spending ahead of the fall budget, the PHAC spokesperson said.

Earlier this summer, Carney asked all federal ministers to come up with “ambitious savings proposals” for the departments and programs they oversee.

The upcoming federal budget is likely a topic of conversation as Carney’s cabinet is gathering this week in the GTA ahead of Parliament’s return later this month.

The budget — which is typically presented in the spring but was held off after the federal election — is expected to be unveiled in October.

During the election campaign, Carney promised to balance the operating budget over the next three years while also pledging billions more in defence spending and promising to build major projects.

“It’s a budget of austerity and investment at the same time and that’s possible if you have discipline,” Carney said Wednesday.

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