Major restructuring leans on hiring freezes, attrition, merging of services; up to 7,000 workers affected
Montreal’s new administration is moving ahead with a major restructuring of its civil service, aiming to eliminate 1,000 positions over four years as part of a broader effort to rein in spending and “better serve Montrealers.”
Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada’s team confirmed this week that the city intends to phase out roughly 1,000 jobs by 2030, primarily through reorganization of central services and an ongoing hiring and appointment freeze in white‑collar and managerial roles. The administration estimates the changes will generate about $16 million in recurring savings starting in 2026, reported CityNews Montreal.
The workforce reduction was foreshadowed in the city’s 2026 operating budget, which sets out a program of cost containment while prioritizing homelessness and housing, and carving out a larger share of revenues to service debt, CityNews reported.
Headcount reduction through structure, not pink slips – at least for now
The administration has framed the initiative as a three‑part program: a review of the city’s organization, a review of its management structure, and a review of headcount, supported by a line‑by‑line look at municipal spending and activities.
In addition, the city announced that it will merge similar services, reducing assistant general manager positions and eliminating seven senior manager positions, CBC News reported.
The first tangible step was introduced last fall, when the city implemented a hiring freeze for white‑collar and professional staff and an appointment freeze for management positions, signalling that a substantial portion of the 1,000 positions is expected to be removed through attrition and vacancy management rather than immediate terminations, according to CityNews.
The cuts will come on top of a separate decision in July 2025 to trim 200 positions — affecting managers, clerical and blue‑collar staff, largely outside the boroughs — to free up $50 million in savings “over the next few years,” reported by the Montreal Gazette.
Balancing workforce cuts with service expectations
In her announcement of the cost containment measures to media, the mayor acknowledged a perceived disconnect between rising municipal tax bills and the services residents receive. She said that her goal is to create a city administration that is “more agile, more efficient” and “closer to the people,” while underscoring that the reorganization is not a judgement on the “competence or the commitment.”
At the same time, the 2026 budget devotes significant new funding to homelessness interventions and housing acquisition, including hundreds of millions over 10 years to secure buildings for social and affordable housing, according to CityNews.
The city’s announcement specified that the 1,000‑position “slimming down” of the civil service will be spread over four years, and that, as of the 2025 fiscal year, only 65 central‑service positions had actually been abolished.
The union representing Montreal’s workers, Syndicat des fonctionnaries municipeaux de Montréal, told CBC News that the cuts would affect city services and it wasn’t consulted on how to improve services.
Claude Pinard, the city’s executive committee chair, said the city’s plan would affect about 7,000 of its 30,000 employees, according to CBC News.
