Weekly Summary
Feb 9 – Feb 15, 2026
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is planning to cut over 500 jobs as part of the federal government's larger workforce reduction strategy. The Public Service Alliance of Canada, another union speaking for CFIA workers, has said 1,371 employees at the agency have received workforce adjustment notices. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada staged a demonstration in downtown Ottawa to protest the cuts, warning of impacts on disease surveillance and emergency response.
In February 2026, Netflix announced the layoff of “several dozen” employees in its global product division as part of an internal restructuring following a leadership shift. The cuts primarily affected middle management and administrative roles, with fewer than 1% of the division’s roughly 6,000 employees impacted. No senior executives were reported to have been let go. The layoffs coincide with the promotion of Elizabeth Stone to Chief Product and Technology Officer. It remains unclear whether any Canadian staff were affected by this round of job cuts.
The National Research Council facility in Winnipeg is laying off 12 employees as part of a federal government plan to reduce public service employee numbers. The layoffs were confirmed on February 13, 2026.
London Machinery is laying off approximately 50 of its 200 workers and shifting production to a new plant in Iowa in response to 25% tariffs imposed on Canadian goods sold to the U.S. The London facility will remain open and continue manufacturing concrete mixers for the Canadian market.
7 employees from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights have been laid off as part of federal government belt-tightening measures. The layoffs are part of a broader federal cost-cutting program.
Agriculture department officials are addressing research cuts. 27 research scientists will not stay in their current location or be offered an equivalent position elsewhere.
General Motors laid off more than 1,000 employees at its CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario due to the end of BrightDrop electric-vehicle production, with an additional 500 employees affected at the Oshawa Assembly plant. The Conservative Party is calling on the federal government to reduce withholding taxes on severance packages for the affected workers.
Premier David Eby announced that 2,000 public service jobs have been eliminated as part of an expenditure management and efficiency review, with more cuts expected in the 2026 budget. The province is targeting administrative positions that do not support front-line service delivery while facing an $11.2 billion deficit.
Transport Canada is cutting 439 employee positions and 27 executive positions as part of a broader federal government spending reduction plan targeting $60 billion in cuts over five years. The Union of Canadian Transportation Employees warns that reductions in inspection services and dangerous goods oversight could create public safety risks for Canadians.
Smurfit Westrock will permanently close one paper machine at its La Tuque mill and an extrusion facility in Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec, resulting in approximately 90 workforce reductions (30 at La Tuque and 60 at Pointe-aux-Trembles). The closure addresses ongoing scale and cost challenges with the paper machine's 127,000 ton annual production capacity of solid bleached sulfate (SBS) products.