Human rights museum 'working through detailed impacts' of federal cuts: CEO

A union representing workers at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights hopes it will find ways to create savings that don't come at the cost of employees as the federal government reins in spending.

The operating budget for the Winnipeg-based national museum has been reduced by $3.2 million total over the next three years, it said in a statement.

The cut is part of a wider 15 per cent savings target in the Department of Canadian Heritage, which was unveiled alongside a sweeping series of civil service cuts in the latest federal budget. 

The reduction is effective April 1, the museum's statement said. However, it wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday how the reduction will impact operations. 

"Any time we hear of budget cuts, it’s extremely concerning and very alarming," said Marianne Hladun, regional executive vice-president for the Prairies for the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents 110 workers at the museum.

The museum’s CEO, Isha Khan, wasn’t available for an interview Tuesday, but said in a prepared statement that while the "financial adjustments present challenges," the museum will continue to deliver on its mandate. 

When asked if the budget cut would lead to job losses, a spokesperson also said the museum didn't have that information at this point.

"We have been working through the detailed impacts of these reductions in the spirit of ensuring we can continue meeting the needs of Canadians in efficient and impactful ways," Khan said in the statement. 

The museum workers represented by PSAC do things like tours, security, curation and research, said Hladun. 

She also said there are many civil service workers across the country who are in similar positions, waiting to find out if they will lose their jobs. That makes things more stressful for workers, because reductions in federal departments will take place over three years, Hladun said.

As of 2025, there were 13,235 workers employed in Manitoba by the federal government, not including members of the RCMP, Canadian Armed Forces or Canadian Security Intelligence Service, according to Statistics Canada.

"There’s a human impact [to] this," said Hladun. "You don’t know if you’re going to be affected. You don’t know if you’re going to have a job.

"That affects your decisions … not to buy a new car, not to buy a new house, not to invest in an education," said Hladun.

"It really throws employees' personal lives into absolute chaos and panic."