From Today@IRCC:

Update on our budget situation and the impacts on our workforce

We recognize this message will be difficult to read, as it contains information about significant changes affecting our workforce. Please know we are committed to supporting everyone impacted during this challenging time. If you need assistance, resources and supports are available to help you navigate this situation.

Dear members of the IRCC team,

In December, we shared information about our budgetary situation over the next few years and committed to getting back to you in January with details on how we will operate within our budget moving forward. Over the past month, a small group of your colleagues have worked with senior management to develop and review proposals to meet sector-specific budget reduction targets. We have finished reviewing the proposals, and can share that we now have a way forward to reduce our spending over the next three years. As part of this exercise, we have also factored in the longstanding, unfunded activities that we have either decided to stop or fund, so that we don’t land in this same position in the future.

It has now become clear that we won’t be able to avoid some level of workforce adjustment (WFA). Unfortunately, this means some indeterminate positions will be eliminated, in addition to many term positions. At an individual level, we are acutely aware that what you really want to know is whether or not these decisions affect you personally. Although the affected functions have been identified, the individual positions have not. Those decisions will be shared starting mid-February. Our commitment is to treat those decisions with care and respect, and this means that no one should hear they are personally affected from another colleague or in a town hall. Our plan is to inform affected individuals first before we start to broaden the picture of how this impacts teams, sectors and the department.

While we can’t offer you an individual decision today, we are prepared to share what we know more globally in terms of impacts on our workforce.

Impacts on indeterminate employees

Over the next three years, we will reduce our planned workforce by approximately 3,300 positions. We estimate that about 80% of these reductions can be achieved by eliminating planned staffing, terms, and other temporary staffing commitments. The remaining 20% of reductions will need to be achieved through the WFA process and will affect indeterminate employees.

The WFA process is intended to maximize job opportunities for indeterminate employees affected by workforce adjustment situations. We will support employees throughout this process, including through our talent management bank and an internal priority system as well as leveraging the broader Government of Canada priority process.

Although reduction proposals span three years, letters confirming affected status for indeterminate employees will be distributed starting in mid-February regardless of the year a position is scheduled to be eliminated. This means that there will be only a single wave of letters sent around mid-February over a short period of time.

When someone is affected, we want to stress that it does not lead to immediate changes in their employment. The process is long and can take months. Affected employees will be treated in accordance with the Workforce Adjustment appendix of their relevant collective agreement or the National Joint Council WFA Directive applicable to certain employment groups. Executives will be subject to the Career Transition Agreement. The timelines and processes may not ultimately lead to job loss. There are a variety of options to transition indeterminate employees to another job in the public service or offer financial incentives to transition out of the public service. Details on these processes will be shared with affected employees as part of their support services.

Term employees

Given our need for WFA, there will also be significant reductions in our term workforce. Some term contracts will not be renewed or could be terminated early. Impacted term employees will be given a notice of at least 30 days. We expect to communicate with term employees in mid-February as well.

Term employees will always remain a part of our HR strategy, and terms may be maintained in certain areas of the organization based on available funding and operational requirements.

Temporary pause on staffing and classification actions

As part of next steps, we are still identifying opportunities to minimize WFA. To do that, we need to have a clear picture of who is working on what and where they are within the organization. It is important to ensure that employees are not moving positions while we finalize our analysis. That is why we are extending the pause on certain staffing and classification actions until February 28, 2025.

Why this is happening

We are building an organization that is fit for purpose, fit for capacity and fit for our budget. This means aligning our work with the priorities of the day and determining what we need to do—and more importantly, not do. We will do this as we work toward a model that reflects the needs of the people we serve, while balancing the demands on all of you. Changes to our funding have also added pressure in an already constrained budgetary situation. These changes include the reduction in levels, the phasing down of work with temporary sources of funding (for example, the resettlement of Afghan nationals and measures related to Ukraine), and the Passport Program’s return to pre-pandemic service standards. At the departmental level, our spending reductions start at $237 million in 2025–2026 and increase up to a total reduction of $336 million by fiscal year 2027–2028, including salary and non-salary spending.

It's clear our department will be smaller in the future. The way we do business will therefore need to change—both operationally and administratively. We’ve been working under an ever-increasing budget and need to learn to live within a defined—and reduced—budget moving forward. This will impact every sector and every branch across IRCC, both domestically and internationally, in HQ and in the regions, and at all levels, including at the ADM and sector levels.

During the budget review process, one of the key areas we emphasized was that a reduction in size means we are doing less with less. This doesn’t change our strategic direction, but it does change how we deliver on it. We need to look at the way we do our work, and the things that add time and cost to every decision. This will require a rethinking of how many projects we take on, a reduction in administrative processes and governance, a review of service standards, and ultimately matching output with our resource reality. We need to reinforce our culture of trust, so that we are empowered to deliver on our accountabilities at all levels.

The other area we kept on the radar was the impact of these decisions on regional and equity representation, and the right balance between core operations—the lifeblood of our organization—as well as program management and corporate support functions. It was simply not an option to propose savings if it would come at the cost of our core business or values.

Support

It goes without saying that this is a stressful period in the department, and we ask that everyone make an effort to be supportive and kind in interactions with colleagues. If you are struggling, please consider asking for help through options with our IRCC Mental Health and Wellness resources or the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which is being amplified during this period. The EAP offers confidential services designed to help navigate difficult situations and provide support when it’s needed most.

We also encourage you to have open conversations with your management team who are here to support you. In the coming weeks, people managers will receive resources and training, so that they are equipped to have discussions and help roll out the changes across the department.

You may also wish to reach out to your union for additional guidance and support. We will work together to minimize this period of uncertainty.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work toward finalizing our plan for the department, and will do everything we can to provide you with more information as soon as possible about how the situation affects you personally.

With respect and care,

Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar, Deputy Minister (he, him)

Scott Harris, Associate Deputy Minister (he, him)