Dear members,
Happy first day of spring. I hope I’m not jinxing us by saying that and we can get off the roller coaster of rain followed by snow followed by more rain we have been experiencing in Ottawa. I’ve now been back from vacation for a week and am happy to report on everything that’s been going on since my last message.
Release of Departmental Plans
Last week, both GAC and IRCC tabled their 2026–27 Departmental Plans, revealing a disconnect between the government’s global ambitions and its willingness to resource them. At GAC, leadership is committing to high-stakes priorities like our G7 presidency and Indo-Pacific expansion while cutting operational spending by over $560 million. This austerity plan includes the elimination of the FS-04 pool, discarding decades of specialized diplomatic expertise in complex files like trade policy, international security, sanctions, and Arctic sovereignty precisely when depth, institutional memory, and experience will be most needed.
Similarly, IRCC is asking its employees to implement measures such as strict new temporary resident caps and revamp programs like the Start-Up Visa to manage “sustainable volumes.” At the same time, they are cutting operational funding and stripping away management layers. For PAFSO members in both departments, the compounding impact is the same: you are expected to absorb mounting geopolitical pressures and major program overhauls as part of a shrinking workforce, under the mantra of “transformation.”
PAFSO is pushing back against the elimination of key Foreign Service expertise and functions at this pivotal moment for Canada’s role in the world. When collective bargaining begins, we will seek to address issues including staffing levels, career progression, and workloads to protect your careers and your mental health. If the Government of Canada wants to hit ambitious targets in areas like trade diversification, sanctions enforcement, humanitarian response and aid quality it must provide appropriate resources, including proper staffing, linked to those targets.
We’re also working to get the message out to the public about what these cuts mean to them. Canadians deserve to know that significant, recurring cuts to GAC and IRCC mean real trade-offs in what Canada can do abroad, from consular support to development to security partnerships and refugee support. Our message is simple: if Canada is to lead or even be heard on the big global files, we can’t keep shrinking our diplomatic toolkit and pretending nothing will change.
Work Force Adjustment (WFA)
There have been no significant changes since my last message, but the March 31 deadline to sign on to the Voluntary Departure Program at GAC is coming up fast. PAFSO continues to be here to assist if needed, but please contact your manager or stream advisor with any questions as well. We’re continuing to seek clarity on the questions you are raising and will update our website information as soon as we can. However, it is the Employer who is responsible for providing advice to employees in a manner that allows you to make the best decision for you.
Early Retirement Incentive (ERI)
This measure has still not been passed by Parliament; however, it is currently working it way through the process and a decision may come soon. If you are at all interested, you can find more information on the TBS site. Remember that even if you meet the criteria for ERI, the Deputy Heads have discretion on whether to accept an employee’s request to depart under the programme and there is no guarantee that they will do so. .
TBS has laid out the following criteria for approval:
- The organization needs to reduce its workforce
- Services to Canadians will be maintained
- Current and future operational or business needs will continue to be met.
Conflict in the Middle East
We know that as the conflict continues in the Middle East our members and their families in the region continue to serve Canadians even under great stress. Airspace closures have made leaving the region difficult for everyone, but we know that our Consular teams – and those who are stepping up to assist them in the region and in Canada have been working long hours to get Canadians back home. Canadians should be proud of the work you are doing to keep everyone as safe as possible, and we were pleased to see this recognized on the Travel.gc.ca Facebook page. The post has some great pictures as well as some complimentary comments. Here are some examples:
“We literally crossed the Israel-Egypt border on foot at Taba yesterday, and the stress was absolutely overwhelming. … Having kind, efficient Canadian help on both sides of such a tense crossing was beyond anything we could have hoped for. We still can’t find the words to thank them enough.
To every Canadian consular officer and helper working quietly in these tough places: you are real-life heroes. From the bottom of our hearts — thank you. ”
“Only high praise for those folks who were up at all hours planning and executing evacuation plans for stranded Canadians.
Thank you to all our embassy employees who are making this happen with professionalism and compassion.”
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1D9AfGBs5c/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ALvsTjJyK/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18JTzKh1jh/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18QehK1yXc/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CCeo1HhNv/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Gi113JoAP/
Reminder: overtime and other provisions in the Collective Bargaining Agreement
This is a difficult and busy time for PAFSO members, especially as many of you are dealing with multiple crises while facing cuts to both personnel and operating budgets and hearing the Employer’s rhetoric about “doing less with less.” It seems like a good moment to remind everyone that the provisions of your collective agreement, especially those related to overtime (Article 15) and standby pay (Article 17), continue to apply even in a budgetary crisis.
If you are being asked to put in extra hours on evenings and weekends, and/or to monitor and respond to e-mail or calls outside working hours, the Employer is obliged to pay you for your time. Although we know that there can be considerable pressure to work for free during times like these, I want to remind you that PAFSO members fought very hard to get these provisions in place. Failing to use them sets up unfair expectations that hurt all of us and prevent management from fully understanding their resource needs.
If you are facing such requests, please remind your manager of the costs associated with your services, and confirm that they are authorizing you to work overtime or be on standby. If they say they are not willing or able to pay you, but expect you to perform the work anyway, please reach out to our office to speak to one of our Labour Relations Advisors.
PAFSO Website
We’ve made some changes to the members only section of our website. We now have a calendar of events where we will post both PAFSO events and those of other organizations you may find interesting. If you would like us to include an event please send an e-mail to info@pafso.com with the details including the time and date, place, and a link to the organizers so members can follow up directly for more information.
We’ve also done some re-organizing so that when you sign in, it’s easier to find what you are looking for. We hope those who have not registered will do so and if you have any issues with the site, please drop us a note at info@pafso.com so that we can fix the problem.
PAFSO Breakfast with author Christy Climenhage on April 14 at 0900 Ottawa time
Please join me for our next virtual PAFSO Breakfast with our friend and colleague Christy Climenhage, author of the science fiction novel The Midnight Project. Christy and I will discuss the links between her writing and foreign service careers as well as the inspiration behind her book, which has been described as “an intimate story that raises big questions: what it means to be human in spite of our fallibilities, and what we owe to the world and to ourselves in the face of devastation.”
It promises to be a great discussion and I hope you will register here to join us.
We’re continuing to update our WFA information on our website including on the members’ section. As always, should you have any other concerns at work, do not hesitate to reach out to us. That’s what we’re here for. Are you having issues with your pay? Do you feel harassed or discriminated against? Do you have a grievance or a staffing complaint? Or do you just want some clarifications on our collective agreement or the FSDs? Whatever the case, PAFSO is here for you. Just send us an email with your name, department and a detailed description of your concerns. You can click here to learn more about all the member services PAFSO has to offer. For anything and everything else, please send us an email at info@pafso.com and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Until next time, please take care of yourselves and each other.
Pamela Isfeld
President of PAFSO