Sixteenth Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada

Annex A: A Demographic Snapshot of the Federal Public Service: 2008

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part I – Demographic Profile of the Public Service

1. Context
2. Public Service Diversity
3. Age Profile of the Public Service
4. Retirements
5. Public Service Years of Experience

Part II – Demographic Profile of Executives

1. Population Size of the Executive Group
2. Executive Diversity
3. Age of Executives

Introduction

This Annex builds on the extensive analysis presented in last year’s report and focuses on key demographic elements of the federal public service.¹ This profile provides an update on the current workforce while building on historical comparisons back to 1983. Part I provides a snapshot of the public service as a whole, while Part II focuses more specifically on the executive cadre.

Part I – Demographic Profile of the Public Service

1. Context

The number of federal public servants in 2008 (263,000) is only slightly higher (4.8%) than in 1983 (251,000), while the Canadian population increased from 25.6 million to over 33.0 million, roughly 29% over the same period. Thus, as a proportion of the Canadian population, the public service decreased from 1.0% in 1983 to 0.8% in 2008. During this period, the real GDP doubled and total federal program spending in constant dollars increased by roughly 30%.

2. Public Service Diversity

a) Gender

The reversal in gender representation over the past 25 years remains one of the most significant changes in the public service. In 2008, women represent 54.9% of public servants (compared with 42% in 1983).

b) Employment Equity Groups

Between 2005 and 2008, overall levels of representation among the four employment equity (EE) groups rose slowly but steadily. In 2008, the number of employees in designated groups exceeded workforce availability in three of the four designated groups (women, Aboriginal peoples and persons with disabilities). The percentage of visible minorities in the public service rose to 10.3% in 2008, but it remains below workforce availability (12.6%).

Importantly, the number of new indeterminate hires and new terms of more than three months in 2007-08 exceeded workforce availability for three of the four employment equity groups (women, Aboriginal peoples and members of a visible minority). Women represented 58% of new hires, Aboriginal peoples 3.4% and visible minorities, an estimated 17.3%.

c) Language

The proportion of English and French speaking employees in the public service has remained relatively stable over the last 25 years. In 2008, 70.6% of federal employees indicated that English was their first official language. 29.4% of employees indicated that French was their first official language. This represents an increase of 2.1 percentage points, since 1983, of employees whose first official language was French.

3. Age Profile of the Public Service

The shift in the public service’s age distribution is evident in Figure 6 below. In 2008, the average age of public servants was 44 years. Between 2003 and 2008, the share of employees 50 years of age or more increased by 4.5 percentage points to 33.6%, while the percentage of employees aged 35-49 dropped by 5.5 percentage points to 43.1%. Recruitment efforts over the past year point to a slight increase in the number of employees aged 25-34.

4. Retirements

Over the last four years, the public service retirement rate has increased from 2.5% in 2004-05 to 3.4% in 2007-08. Over the next three years, it is projected that these rates will increase somewhat, rising to 3.7% of the public service in 2012-13.

5. Public Service Years of Experience

Today, the percentage of employees with 0-4 years of experience is just shy of one fifth of the public service (19.3% in 2008), reflecting the focus on recruitment in recent years. This should rise slightly with sustained recruitment on the part of the public service. The demographic aging of the public service is evident in the reduction of employees with 25+ years of experience.

Part II – Demographic Profile of Executives

1. Population Size of the Executive Group

As of March 31, 2008, there were 6,182 executives in the public service. This represents 2.3% of total public service employment levels.

2. Executive Diversity

a) Employment Equity Groups

Between 2000 and 2008, representation levels among women in the executive cadre rose significantly. Women now occupy 42% of all executive positions in the federal public service (versus 28% in 2000). Levels of representation at the executive level for all other designated groups also increased steadily over the same time period. However, with the exception of representation of persons with disabilities, representation of all groups in the executive cadre is still below workforce availability.

b) Language

The proportion of executives declaring French as their first official language has increased significantly from 21% in 1983 to almost 30% in 2008.

3. Age of Executives

The average age of executives was 48 years in 1987. In 2008, it was 50.4 years. The shift in the age distribution of executives is more pronounced than in the rest of the public service. At senior levels (EX 04 and EX 05), the rise in the average age was even more pronounced.

[Previous] [Table of Contents] [Next]

1. The “public service” refers to the core public administration (those departments and agencies for which the Treasury Board is the employer) and separate employers (principally the Canada Revenue Agency, the Parks Canada Agency, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and the National Research Council of Canada).