The federal government is planning to source early retirement incentives for public servants from the Public Service Pension Plan, which has a $1.9 billion dollar surplus.

In its budget released on Nov. 4, the Liberal government announced its plan to shed 30,000 jobs from the federal public service by 2028-29. To do so, the government has said it will rely on attrition “to the greatest extent possible” by lowering age eligibility rules for retirement and offering what amounts to $1.5 billion in incentives.

The $1.9-billion surplus in the pension fund became a point of contention for public sector unions in November 2024 when the government announced it was moving the “non-permitted surplus” into a general account.

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