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Fourteenth Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada
Annex 2: A Demographic Picture of the Public Service
The Public Service Today
250,000 Canadians work in what is known as the core federal Public Service9 – these are the people employed in the 20 departments and 180 regulatory and administrative agencies of the federal government.
Beyond this are the 220,000 Canadians who are members of the Canadian Forces (64,000 plus 25,000 reservists), the RCMP (some 20,000 regular and civilian members) and Crown corporations (for example, employees of CBC, VIA Rail and Canada Post). From 2000 to 2006 the core federal Public Service grew a total of 17.8%, or about 2.8% per year. Much of this growth is associated with new requirements in the areas of public health, national security, public safety and our role in the world.
Regional distribution
The Federal Public Service10 is widely distributed throughout Canada. In 2006, 42% of employees worked in the National Capital Region (NCR) (Ottawa-Gatineau) and 57% were located throughout the various regions of Canada: 13% in Ontario less the NCR, 12% in Quebec less the NCR, 12% in the Prairies, 11% in the Atlantic and 10% in B.C. or the North. The remainder (1%) are employees stationed outside of Canada.
Executive cohort
The executive category of the federal Public Service is 4,639 executives as of March 31, 2006. Approximately 75% of the executive workforce is between the ages of 45 and 59, with an average age of over 50. Approximately 18% of the executive population is currently eligible to retire. Since 2000, the number of executives under the age of 45 has increased approximately 48% from 618 to 917.
Key trends in the workforce
Shifting age profile
The age profile of federal Public Service employees is reversed from that of 15 years ago, when employees in the 25 to 44 age bracket comprised 60% of the work force, and fewer than 30% were over 45. The current distribution is the opposite: more than half of all public servants are now over 45. Currently, about 10% of public servants have 30+ years of pensionable service and approximately 8% are eligible to retire. Approximately one in five employees in the federal Public Service are forecast to leave by 2009-2010. Replacing these workers, and the knowhow they represent, is a key challenge for the federal government.
Competitive labour market
Today’s Canadian economy offers many employment opportunities. Employers, including the Public Service of Canada, face much higher competition than in earlier decades for new entrants into the labour market. To secure its share of talented young individuals, the Public Service needs more effective recruitment approaches, and a workplace environment and prospects that will capture the interest of young graduates and meet their expectations.
A representative workforce
The Employment Equity Act requires that representation in the federal Public Service of four designated groups – women, Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities and visible minorities – should reflect their representation in the Canadian population. This has been a long-standing government objective and numerical objectives (which are defined in terms of “workforce availability”) are set and regularly updated. Progress has been made in meeting representation objectives for both executives and non-executive levels in the federal Public Service but further improvements are needed.
- The core federal Public Service numbers 250,000 and includes agencies such as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the Canada Revenue Agency, Parks Canada and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service for whom the Treasury Board is not the employer and where the Public Service Commission is not empowered to appoint people in these organizations.
- The federal Public Service includes employees in the departments listed in Schedule 1 and Schedule 4 of the Financial Administration Act (FAA) for whom the Treasury Board is the employer and where the Public Service Commission is empowered to appoint people.
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