Agency aims to cut about 500 full-time positions as federal job cuts reach national parks and staff await decisions on their roles
Parks Canada has opened a second round of workforce adjustment, telling 2,917 employees this week their positions are affected as it moves to cut the equivalent of about 500 full-time jobs, according to reports.
Andrew Campbell, interim president and CEO of Parks Canada, announced the phase in an email to staff on Oct. 20, the Ottawa Citizen reported. The letters reached roughly 61% of the 4,773 people the agency employed as of March 31, 2026, based on Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) figures cited by CTV News Ottawa.
That breadth was deliberate. “We have used, and are using, every means we have to minimize the number of team members who may need to involuntarily leave the agency,” Campbell told staff, CBC News reported.
Why Parks Canada is cutting 500 positions
The pressure comes from the federal Comprehensive Expenditure Review (CER), under which Parks Canada must save $144.9 million over three years. Its 2026–27 departmental plan says the agency “will prioritize attrition and reassignment” and will run any workforce adjustment “with the engagement of the Public Service Alliance of Canada” (PSAC).
That commitment has limits. In June 2026, when a first phase affected 15 full-time employees, Campbell cautioned staff: “Given the scale of the required savings, I have been clear that attrition alone will not be enough to meet our targets,” according to a CBC report.
Across government, TBS data show the federal public service has already shed more than 12,000 jobs in a single year, as Ottawa pursues a Canada Strong Budget 2025 plan to cut 28,000 positions by 2029.
What affected letter means for employees
The letter is a warning, not a layoff. Under workforce adjustment (WFA), it signals a job may be discontinued, changed or relocated, CBC News explained. Only a later “opting” letter starts a process that can end in layoff.
Rawan El-Komos, Parks Canada’s vice-president of human resources and employee wellness and a former workforce executive at Employment and Social Development Canada, eased two immediate fears. “Receiving an affected letter does not mean the end of your employment with Parks Canada, nor the automatic loss of your staff housing,” she said, according to the Rocky Mountain Outlook.
Affected staff also have rights under the PSAC collective agreement, including alternation – trading places with a colleague who wants to leave. Uncertainty persists, as in other departments, where unions likened the scramble for remaining jobs to the Hunger Games.
Union warns of staffing strain at busy parks
The move drew pushback. Krysty Thomas, regional executive vice-president for PSAC’s Prairie region, told CBC News the cuts were disappointing, coming on the heels of the free Canada Strong Pass, which lifted summer 2025 visitation 13% above 2023 levels, according to the departmental plan.
“As the federal government encourages more Canadians to visit, they must ensure that the parks have the staffing and resources to serve them safely,” Thomas said. Of the roughly 375 staff rebuilding Jasper, Alta., after the 2024 wildfire, she added: “They’re continuing to help build our community and now they’re worried about the security of their own jobs.”
The concern stretches north: three Parks Canada staff in the Northwest Territories told Cabin Radio they had been called into redundancy meetings or knew colleagues who had received affected letters. As decisions loom within weeks, according to an agency spokesperson, HR leaders will watch for the toll flagged in 2024 survey results pointing to falling satisfaction among federal public servants.
