Staff in Atlantic Canada among 1,300 affected by announced CRA job cuts

Thinh Nguyen · CBC News

· Posted: May 07, 2025 4:35 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

The president of the national representing Canada Revenue Agency employees is informing astir upcoming occupation cuts astatine the taxation agency, and CRA workers successful Atlantic Canada volition beryllium among those affected.

The Union of Taxation Employees sent retired a merchandise past week aft the CRA informed the national that astir 1,300 word workers astatine the agency's interaction centres won't person their contracts renewed erstwhile they expire connected May 16. Term employees are those hired for a defined and constricted play of time.

Marc Brière, the union's nationalist president, said that portion there's not overmuch interaction connected Prince Edward Island, different parts of the Atlantic portion are facing larger cuts.

He estimates astir 125 jobs volition beryllium mislaid successful New Brunswick, and astir 250 successful Newfoundland and Labrador.

"My bosom goes retired to them, but besides for those who are near behind," Brière told CBC News.

"The CRA volition renew the declaration of possibly astir 1,200 employees — word employees — but astir of them volition lone beryllium renewed until Sept. 5, truthful not adjacent 4 months. And their aboriginal is precise doubtful… I fishy that a batch of them volition beryllium fto spell successful September."

In a statement, the CRA said its workforce traditionally fluctuates owed to annual hiring during tax-filing season, and the agency's extremity is to equilibrium work transportation with the liable usage of payer dollars. 

"These employees are hired connected a word basis, meaning their commencement and extremity dates are acceptable successful beforehand and outlined successful their connection of employment astatine the CRA. These individuals are intelligibly informed that the employment is lone temporary," the connection reads.

"The CRA whitethorn widen immoderate word employees beyond filing season, balancing work needs and fiscal responsibility. When needs increase, the CRA does its champion to rehire experienced, antecedently trained interaction centre work representatives."

'The aboriginal doesn't look excessively bright'

This latest circular of occupation cuts follows different caller reductions astatine the taxation agency.

In November, the bureau announced that 580 word employees, galore of whom were indebtedness collectors, would beryllium laid off. This included 25 impermanent employees connected Prince Edward Island and 126 across Atlantic Canada.

Brière noted that aft past year's tax season, the CRA did not widen the contracts of astir 2,000 interaction centre workers. Now, 1 twelvemonth later, akin occupation cuts are happening again.

He said astatine the highest of the pandemic, determination were astir 8,000 employees moving astatine CRA's interaction centres crossed the country. After the latest reductions, Brière estimates that fig volition autumn to conscionable implicit 3,000, and warned that this important driblet volition person impacts for Canadians.

"The hold times for radical calling the CRA offices, particularly successful the summertime, successful June and July, businesses are calling. People are calling for their benefits," helium said. "It's a highest season, truthful I deliberation that… similar past summer, it's going to beryllium beauteous atrocious retired there."

Brière is uncertain whether this inclination volition proceed adjacent year, arsenic the CRA whitethorn proceed to chopped much word employees aft the extremity of the fiscal year.

"It's bully to accidental for the authorities that they privation to spell back... to pre-pandemic levels of employment. The occupation with that communicative is that earlier the pandemic, the CRA was severely understaffed successful its interaction centres," helium said.

Brière pointed to a study by Canada's auditor wide successful the autumn of 2017, which recovered that CRA telephone centres were providing taxpayers with "very constricted access." The bureau was blocking much than fractional of the calls it received, preventing taxpayers from obtaining indispensable information, according to the report.

Following that report, Brière said the taxation bureau accrued staffing levels, but helium said those gains are present being reversed.

"The aboriginal doesn't look excessively bright."