Which departments hold the top spots?
More than 10,000 federal public servants applied for Ottawa's early retirement program before its July 24, 2026 deadline, and new figures from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) show most have now cleared the eligibility bar.
As of Sept. 8, 2026, 9,438 applications had been confirmed to meet the program's criteria, while 68 were denied and 196 discontinued, according to data posted on the TBS results page.
The Early Retirement Incentive (ERI) was introduced under Budget 2025 as part of the federal government's effort to manage workforce reductions through attrition and voluntary departures rather than layoffs. It lets eligible employees retire immediately on an unreduced pension, waiving a penalty that would otherwise apply.
By comparison, in our earlier report on the program's first-month application total, TBS had logged 7,310 applications and just 4,398 confirmations as of June 9, 2026.
Which department leads the tally?
Applications came from 55 federal organizations, TBS data show.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) logged the highest count of any single organization, with 1,552 applications, followed by Employment and Social Development Canada with 1,053, the Department of National Defence with 764, Public Services and Procurement Canada with 705, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with 282.
Top 10 departments by early retirement applications are:
- Canada Revenue Agency – 1,552
- Employment and Social Development Canada – 1,053
- National Defence – 764
- Public Services and Procurement Canada – 705
- Correctional Service Canada – 394
- Canada Border Services Agency – 346
- Indigenous Services Canada – 346 (tied with CBSA)
- Shared Services Canada – 289
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada – 288
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police – 282
Under normal public service pension rules, an employee's annuity "is permanently reduced by 5% for each year they retire early," according to TBS – a 25 per cent cut for someone leaving five years ahead of schedule. The ERI waives that reduction entirely for approved applicants, who are instead paid based on their actual years of pensionable service.
Eligibility runs on two tracks. Group 1 members, who joined the pension plan on or before Dec. 31, 2012, must be at least 50; Group 2 members, who joined on or after Jan. 1, 2013, must be at least 55. Both need at least two years of pensionable service and 10 years of federal employment. Meeting those thresholds does not guarantee approval – each application still goes through a deputy head weighing organizational workforce needs. The latest possible retirement date for anyone approved is Jan. 20, 2027.
Union pushback and program timeline
The rollout hasn't gone entirely without friction. Earlier in the process, the program prompted a formal labour complaint from the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), which alleged Ottawa bypassed negotiated processes and sidelined the union's role as bargaining agent – a dispute that echoes broader tension over federal downsizing, including workforce adjustment layoff letters reaching federal departments earlier in the reduction effort.
Shafqat Ali, President of the Treasury Board, based in Ottawa, Ontario, defended the program's design when it launched. "As proposed in Budget 2025, workforce reductions will be managed to the greatest extent possible through attrition and voluntary departures," Ali said in March 2026.
Federal downsizing isn't unique to Ottawa's public service. British Columbia's own plan to cut public sector roles by 2029 leans on similar attrition-first language, suggesting HR leaders across jurisdictions are converging on voluntary exit tools ahead of harder cuts.
With processing largely complete and the January 2027 retirement deadline approaching, HR teams across the 55 participating organizations now face a narrower window to plan for the knowledge gaps thousands of confirmed departures will leave behind.
