Indigenous Services Canada warns 'difficult decisions' in budget cuts will impact programs
CBC
Indigenous Services Canada's top officials have warned staff that meeting Prime Minister Mark Carney's budget cut targets won't be easy and will impact jobs and operations.
In an internal email seen by CBC Indigenous, the deputy ministers informed employees about the initiative "to bring forward ambitious savings proposals" and reduce spending by up to 15 per cent over the next three years.
"This will involve difficult decisions that will impact our programs and activities, as well as our workforce," wrote deputy minister Gina Wilson and associate deputy minister Michelle Kovacevic on July 8.
The deputies said they'll be working on these proposals over the coming weeks, aiming to have them presented in spring 2026. But the deliberations and decisions will be subject to cabinet confidence until then, they added. That means they'll be kept secret.
"We recognize this news may be difficult to hear, and that uncertainty can create stress," the email said.
Carney has been repeating the mantra of "spend less, invest more" as he pledges to rein in government spending. The public service grew tremendously under the Trudeau government, to nearly 358,000 in 2025 from some 257,000 people in 2015, according to the Treasury Board Secretariat.
ISC hit an estimated $27.7 billion in spending last fiscal year and already forecasts a budget reduction. The deputies' email confirms ISC, like other departments, was asked to target "programs and activities that are underperforming, not core to the federal mandate, duplicative, or misaligned with government priorities."
Labour groups are already raising alarms, with one union representing federal government workers saying the cuts "look and feel like austerity and will hurt everyone in Canada who depends on vital public services."
"Cutting jobs means cutting services. Full stop," said Public Service Alliance of Canada national president Sharon DeSousa in a statement.
It's unclear from Wilson and Kovacevic's message whether there will be program cuts and job losses at ISC, which is responsible for the Indian Act as well as vital services like health care, education, infrastructure, drinking water and child and family services.
ISC's budget is already set to decrease over the next three years as program money spent by the Trudeau government runs out, or "sunsets." The department forecasts spending $25.3 billion this year, $21.4 billion in 2026-27, and $20.1 billion in 2027-28.
This means ISC is already in line for more than $5 billion in possible budget reductions.
A spokesperson for Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty said the minister wasn't available to comment at this time and referred a request for comment to the department.
In a statement, ISC said the 15per cent target would not include the $5-billion planned spending reduction.
A long-serving United Church minister is preparing to leave his pulpit, adding pressure at a time when filling vacancies has become increasingly difficult.
Garrett Hawkins is on the cusp of making it to the big leagues. The pitcher from Biggar, Sask., has been added to the San Diego Padres 40-man roster.
Charlottetown Police and Fire Services are asking residents to avoid areas around Green Street due to a structure fire on Sunday morning.
Despite being born on a Christmas tree farm in Ohio, he wasn't really a fan of the holiday season.
A Hamilton hospital network is taking a closer look at how psychedelics might be useful in medicine.
Most people would prefer to spend the Christmas holiday weekend in warmth and comfort — but a Philadelphia man is going to spend it trudging 120 kilometres in the cold across Windsor-Essex.
Long before the first Calgary Stampede, the city attracted a different kind of cowboy.
After waiting four years to get his son the support the family says he needs to navigate school with learning challenges, a father from London, Ont. is fighting to make equitable healthcare and education a fundamental right.
Waterloo region and Guelph are under two yellow weather alerts warning of freezing rain changing to heavy rainfall Sunday, Environment Canada says.
A survey recently conducted on Prince Edward Island turned up a type of freshwater snail that experts say has never before been identified in the Maritimes.
A downtown Toronto long-term care home is rebuilding with a new design that considers lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, going beyond the province’s standards — but some say those standards are out of date.
It’s another wet and stormy day for much of Newfoundland and Labrador.
It’s been years since the tiny but aggressive European green crab made its way over to the Magdalen Islands, and some researchers in Quebec are warning it could be headed for the Gaspé next.