The federal union representing workers at the Canada Revenue Agency has started the second phase of its online campaign denouncing staffing cuts.

The “Canada on Hold” campaign was launched last month with a focus on CRA call centres but has now been expanded to draw attention to staffing cuts across the agency.

Marc Brière, national president of the Union of Taxation Employees, says the CRA has cut almost 10,000 jobs since May 2024 and the campaign looks to highlight the impact of cuts on the delivery of services to taxpayers and businesses.

NDP MP and labour critic Alexandre Boulerice said Tuesday his party plans to table a private member’s bill this fall to scrap a section of the Canada Labour Code that lets the government shut down strikes.

Boulerice told a press conference that the Liberals and Conservatives have abused Section 107, which allows a minister to order binding arbitration and end work stoppages.

Canada hosted a virtual meeting of G7 finance ministers today to discuss further measures to increase the pressure on Russia.

John Fragos, press secretary for the Minister of Finance and National Revenue, says the group also talked about ways to limit Russia’s “war machinery.”

Ottawa’s chief data officer says he thinks the introduction of artificial intelligence to federal government operations will lead to “some” job cuts in the public service.

In a recent interview with The Canadian Press, Stephen Burt said he thinks the impacts are going to vary widely and will be job-specific, with different outcomes in different areas.

An Ottawa man was among the tourists killed when a streetcar crashed in Lisbon earlier this month.

Aziz Benharref, a Canadian who lived in the Orleans neighbourhood, was on vacation in Portugal with his wife, Hind Iguernane, when the derailment happened.

The federal government says individuals’ e-mail addresses and phone numbers associated with Canada Revenue Agency, Employment and Social Development Canada and Canada Border Services Agency accounts were accessed in a cyberattack.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat says the government was alerted to the security incident on Aug. 17 by 2Keys Corporation, the provider of a multi-factor authentication application used for the accounts.

Finance Minister announces 100-day plan to fix CRA service delays

A year ago, then-NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s Labour Day message to workers insisted that his party alone would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with working Canadians and the unions that work to protect their rights.

Six months later, Singh stood outside of an auto plant in Windsor, Ont. during the federal election, hoping to offer support and comfort to workers reeling from news of new auto tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump. But Singh was not greeted with warmth – most of them ignored him entirely, rushing past with their heads down as they came off shift, while some others indicated a preference for the Conservatives and Leader Pierre Poilievre.

Federal public servants were less likely to call in sick to work during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, new government data show.

The figures shared by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat indicate that in 2020-21, when the pandemic had most office employees working entirely remotely, the average number of sick days for the public service was 5.9.

Canada Post is urging the Canadian Union of Postal Workers to revisit its offers after meeting at the bargaining table Wednesday.

The Crown corporation says the union has “maintained or hardened” its position on many items and added new demands and that the gap between the parties remains “substantial.”

Just over 200 ballots were rejected in the recent Alberta by-election where Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre regained a seat in the House of Commons, Elections Canada says.

Validated results of the Battle River–Crowfoot by-election posted by Elections Canada show 51,085 valid votes cast in the by-election, and 211 rejected ballots, or 0.4 per cent of the total votes cast.

The Canada Revenue Agency has offered contract extensions to around 850 call-centre employees as their union sounds the alarm over staffing levels.

CRA spokesperson Etienne Biram says the workers, whose contracts were set to expire in September, were contacted about the decision last week.

The federal government’s troubled attempt to modernize its pay system will be probed by the federal Auditor-General as the government begins its move to another new payroll program.

Ottawa announced in June it had awarded a 10-year contract to Dayforce for almost $351 million, to replace the Phoenix payroll system that has caused significant problems. The contract allows for a possible extension to 20 years.

Employees at the Canada Border Services Agency and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service are the least likely to recommend their office as a great place to work, a survey of federal public servants suggests.

The 2024 Public Service Employee Survey asked federal government employees a range of questions about their satisfaction with their workplace, including about their leadership, well-being and compensation.