Ottawa MP Mona Fortier says no formal transition plan exists for laid-off federal public servants

Ottawa MP Mona Fortier acknowledged Thursday that there is no formal transition plan for federal public servants impacted by federal layoffs in the National Capital Region — nearly a year after she said one was being developed.

"It's not a plan that is written," Fortier told reporters at an unrelated press conference on October 1. "What I'm trying to do with the National Capital Region caucus is to encourage the fact that there are some transitions happening."

Last fall, as the Carney government prepared to cut approximately 30,000 public service jobs over three years, Fortier told reporters that local MPs were working to ensure a transition plan was in place for constituents facing job loss. She mentioned opportunities to move into Ottawa's tech sector or the Department of Defence, which has grown while most departments have shrunk. "We're trying to understand how we can make this a good thing for our community," she said at the time.

Now, twelve months later, that formal plan does not exist. "I'm hoping that we will work all together to help departments when they do have someone that needs to leave, encourage them to meet with businesses," Fortier said. "Informally, I try to encourage the president of the Treasury Board to encourage all departments that are going through that movement to support these public servants that are having changes."

The impact has been substantial. The federal public service shrank by 12,000 jobs over the past year, with the vast majority of those positions in the National Capital Region. About 10,000 public servants applied for early retirement incentives out of 68,000 who were eligible. The federal government also issued workforce adjustment notices to approximately 26,000 public servants, alerting them that their positions may be affected by layoffs.

Fortier represents Ottawa—Vanier—Gloucester. Almost 150,000 federal public servants live in the Ottawa-Gatineau area.