Employment and Social Development Canada Layoffs 2026 — 970 Jobs Cut in Canada

Employment and Social Development Canada is eliminating 5,411 positions (5,313 employees and 98 executives) as part of the federal government's Comprehensive Expenditure Review (Budget 2025). This total includes vacant positions, projected attrition, and positions to be eliminated through formal workforce adjustment. Of these, 970 currently filled positions (931 employees and 39 executives) are undergoing formal Workforce Adjustment (WFA) or Career Transition (CT) proceedings — the most direct indicator of employees facing displacement. 3,075 "affected" or "at-risk" status letters have been issued (3,028 to employees, 47 to executives). These notices indicate potential impact and do not necessarily result in departure from the public service. The organization employs 42,520 people in the core public administration as of March 2025. Notifications were issued in Phase 2 of the Government of Canada's workforce reduction process.