A chainsaw-wielding
Elon Musk
precipitated fairly the stir in Washington earlier this yr when
Donald Trump
established the
Division of Authorities Effectivity
to scale back authorities spending and minimize jobs.
In response to some estimates, lots of of hundreds have been laid off or focused for layoffs, although Musk has since left DOGE and a few workers have been requested to return to work.
However right here’s a
“enjoyable truth”
that Taylor Schleich, an economist with Nationwide Financial institution of Canada, has unearthed from latest knowledge that goes towards widespread perception.
Canada has truly minimize an even bigger share of
federal jobs
than america this yr.
In response to Statistics Canada’s newest Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, employment in Canada’s federal authorities fell 3.8 per cent via July, whereas the U.S. federal workforce dropped solely 3.1 per cent via August, he mentioned.
The decline within the Canada’s federal workforce began earlier than 2025 and the election of Prime Minister
Mark Carney
, Schleich factors out.
The 2024 finances below former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau aimed to economize via attrition, and since early that yr the federal workforce has shrunk by about 5 per cent.
Thoughts you, some would argue there was better scope for job cuts in Ottawa. Because of the surge in hiring via most of Trudeau’s tenure, Canada nonetheless employs a bigger share of federal staff, he mentioned. This wasn’t at all times the case. Earlier than 2020 Canada had a smaller authorities footprint than america.
There’s additionally the likelihood that America’s public service is about to get even smaller if Trump carries via on his menace to chop extra U.S. businesses and jobs in the course of the
authorities shutdown
now happening.
Schleich mentioned whether or not the job-cutting pattern continues in Ottawa is tough to say, as we received’t get a take a look at the federal spending plans till Nov. 4.
However to get again to the dimensions of the federal workforce in 2015 earlier than Trudeau took energy would require reducing 14 per cent of workers or about 50,000 jobs, he mentioned.
“It’s laborious to think about this enjoying out as the federal government is planning to develop its attain in a giant approach (e.g. by way of the brand new Construct Canada Houses or the Main Initiatives Workplace),” he mentioned.
“What is obvious is that fewer federal staff received’t be ample to offset the price of a rising listing of spending commitments and forgone revenues by way of tax cuts.”
The
parliamentary finances officer final week forecast
that the federal authorities will put up an annual deficit of $68.5 billion this yr, up from $51.7 billion final yr.
Which leads us to a different of the Nationwide economists’ “consider it or not” revelations.
Canadian governments, provincial and federal, are presently tapping debt markets simply as aggressively as america, whose rising obligations have alarmed buyers world wide.
5 months into the fiscal yr, the Authorities of Canada has auctioned $138 billion of recent bonds, up 44 per cent from the yr earlier than, mentioned Nationwide. Add within the provinces’ $81.5 billion, and the grand whole involves $220 billion in bond provide, a month-to-month tempo equal to 1.4 per cent of
gross home product.
The $2 trillion in gross Treasury bond provide from the U.S. in the identical interval, then again, quantities to 1.3 per cent of GDP.
Join right here to get Posthaste delivered straight to your inbox.
One other change the
age of AI
has thurst upon us is electrical energy is turning into an even bigger drive of inflation.
“The voracious urge for food for energy from knowledge centres has despatched once-sleepy electrical energy demand skyward,” mentioned Douglas Porter, chief economist of BMO Capital Markets, in a latest notice.
This actually reveals up in america, the place electrical energy costs have climbed a median of 6.5 per cent a yr over the previous 5 years. Electrical energy’s weight on the patron worth index is about 2.5 per cent, so the rise has added 0.15 share factors to inflation, he mentioned.
Canada hasn’t seen the identical surge primarily as a result of costs listed here are extra regulated and demand much less “frothy,” mentioned Porter. Canadian prices are up simply 1.4 per cent up to now yr, and the common annual improve over the previous 5 years is about half that of america’.
- Immediately’s Information: Individuals received’t be getting U.S. jobs and unemployment charge knowledge as we speak due to the federal government shutdown
- Inside Nova Scotia’s $60-billion wind gamble to energy Canada’s clear vitality future
- Monetary classes and missteps you possibly can study from Billy Joel
- CRA hits taxpayer with $5,000 in penalties for mistake in reporting U.S. holdings
In case you personal “specified international property” the place the whole price at any time within the yr is greater than $100,000, you’re required to finish Kind T1135, International Earnings Verification Assertion along with your private tax return.
Whereas most of us would agree {that a} Swiss checking account with a worth of greater than $100,000 in it needs to be reported, you won’t understand that shares of international firms comparable to Apple Inc. or Nvidia Corp. should even be disclosed, even when held in a Canadian non-registered brokerage account.
Tax skilled Jamie Golombek fills us in on a case the place a taxpayer was hit with $5,000 in CRA penalties for making a mistake in reporting U.S. holdings.
Learn on
McLister on mortgages
Need to study extra about mortgages? Mortgage strategist Robert McLister’s
Monetary Submit column
may also help navigate the advanced sector, from the newest tendencies to financing alternatives you received’t need to miss. Plus test his
mortgage charge web page
for Canada’s lowest nationwide mortgage charges, up to date every day.
Monetary Submit on YouTube
Go to the Monetary Submit’s
YouTube channel
for interviews with Canada’s main specialists in enterprise, economics, housing, the vitality sector and extra.
Immediately’s Posthaste was written by Pamela Heaven with further reporting from Monetary Submit employees, The Canadian Press and Bloomberg.
Have a narrative thought, pitch, embargoed report, or a suggestion for this article? E-mail us at
.
Bookmark our web site and assist our journalism: Don’t miss the enterprise information you must know — add financialpost.com to your bookmarks and join our newsletters right here
A chainsaw-wielding
Elon Musk
precipitated fairly the stir in Washington earlier this yr when
Donald Trump
established the
Division of Authorities Effectivity
to scale back authorities spending and minimize jobs.
In response to some estimates, lots of of hundreds have been laid off or focused for layoffs, although Musk has since left DOGE and a few workers have been requested to return to work.
However right here’s a
“enjoyable truth”
that Taylor Schleich, an economist with Nationwide Financial institution of Canada, has unearthed from latest knowledge that goes towards widespread perception.
Canada has truly minimize an even bigger share of
federal jobs
than america this yr.
In response to Statistics Canada’s newest Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, employment in Canada’s federal authorities fell 3.8 per cent via July, whereas the U.S. federal workforce dropped solely 3.1 per cent via August, he mentioned.
The decline within the Canada’s federal workforce began earlier than 2025 and the election of Prime Minister
Mark Carney
, Schleich factors out.
The 2024 finances below former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau aimed to economize via attrition, and since early that yr the federal workforce has shrunk by about 5 per cent.
Thoughts you, some would argue there was better scope for job cuts in Ottawa. Because of the surge in hiring via most of Trudeau’s tenure, Canada nonetheless employs a bigger share of federal staff, he mentioned. This wasn’t at all times the case. Earlier than 2020 Canada had a smaller authorities footprint than america.
There’s additionally the likelihood that America’s public service is about to get even smaller if Trump carries via on his menace to chop extra U.S. businesses and jobs in the course of the
authorities shutdown
now happening.
Schleich mentioned whether or not the job-cutting pattern continues in Ottawa is tough to say, as we received’t get a take a look at the federal spending plans till Nov. 4.
However to get again to the dimensions of the federal workforce in 2015 earlier than Trudeau took energy would require reducing 14 per cent of workers or about 50,000 jobs, he mentioned.
“It’s laborious to think about this enjoying out as the federal government is planning to develop its attain in a giant approach (e.g. by way of the brand new Construct Canada Houses or the Main Initiatives Workplace),” he mentioned.
“What is obvious is that fewer federal staff received’t be ample to offset the price of a rising listing of spending commitments and forgone revenues by way of tax cuts.”
The
parliamentary finances officer final week forecast
that the federal authorities will put up an annual deficit of $68.5 billion this yr, up from $51.7 billion final yr.
Which leads us to a different of the Nationwide economists’ “consider it or not” revelations.
Canadian governments, provincial and federal, are presently tapping debt markets simply as aggressively as america, whose rising obligations have alarmed buyers world wide.
5 months into the fiscal yr, the Authorities of Canada has auctioned $138 billion of recent bonds, up 44 per cent from the yr earlier than, mentioned Nationwide. Add within the provinces’ $81.5 billion, and the grand whole involves $220 billion in bond provide, a month-to-month tempo equal to 1.4 per cent of
gross home product.
The $2 trillion in gross Treasury bond provide from the U.S. in the identical interval, then again, quantities to 1.3 per cent of GDP.
Join right here to get Posthaste delivered straight to your inbox.
One other change the
age of AI
has thurst upon us is electrical energy is turning into an even bigger drive of inflation.
“The voracious urge for food for energy from knowledge centres has despatched once-sleepy electrical energy demand skyward,” mentioned Douglas Porter, chief economist of BMO Capital Markets, in a latest notice.
This actually reveals up in america, the place electrical energy costs have climbed a median of 6.5 per cent a yr over the previous 5 years. Electrical energy’s weight on the patron worth index is about 2.5 per cent, so the rise has added 0.15 share factors to inflation, he mentioned.
Canada hasn’t seen the identical surge primarily as a result of costs listed here are extra regulated and demand much less “frothy,” mentioned Porter. Canadian prices are up simply 1.4 per cent up to now yr, and the common annual improve over the previous 5 years is about half that of america’.
- Immediately’s Information: Individuals received’t be getting U.S. jobs and unemployment charge knowledge as we speak due to the federal government shutdown
- Inside Nova Scotia’s $60-billion wind gamble to energy Canada’s clear vitality future
- Monetary classes and missteps you possibly can study from Billy Joel
- CRA hits taxpayer with $5,000 in penalties for mistake in reporting U.S. holdings
In case you personal “specified international property” the place the whole price at any time within the yr is greater than $100,000, you’re required to finish Kind T1135, International Earnings Verification Assertion along with your private tax return.
Whereas most of us would agree {that a} Swiss checking account with a worth of greater than $100,000 in it needs to be reported, you won’t understand that shares of international firms comparable to Apple Inc. or Nvidia Corp. should even be disclosed, even when held in a Canadian non-registered brokerage account.
Tax skilled Jamie Golombek fills us in on a case the place a taxpayer was hit with $5,000 in CRA penalties for making a mistake in reporting U.S. holdings.
Learn on
McLister on mortgages
Need to study extra about mortgages? Mortgage strategist Robert McLister’s
Monetary Submit column
may also help navigate the advanced sector, from the newest tendencies to financing alternatives you received’t need to miss. Plus test his
mortgage charge web page
for Canada’s lowest nationwide mortgage charges, up to date every day.
Monetary Submit on YouTube
Go to the Monetary Submit’s
YouTube channel
for interviews with Canada’s main specialists in enterprise, economics, housing, the vitality sector and extra.
Immediately’s Posthaste was written by Pamela Heaven with further reporting from Monetary Submit employees, The Canadian Press and Bloomberg.
Have a narrative thought, pitch, embargoed report, or a suggestion for this article? E-mail us at
.
Bookmark our web site and assist our journalism: Don’t miss the enterprise information you must know — add financialpost.com to your bookmarks and join our newsletters right here
A chainsaw-wielding
Elon Musk
precipitated fairly the stir in Washington earlier this yr when
Donald Trump
established the
Division of Authorities Effectivity
to scale back authorities spending and minimize jobs.
In response to some estimates, lots of of hundreds have been laid off or focused for layoffs, although Musk has since left DOGE and a few workers have been requested to return to work.
However right here’s a
“enjoyable truth”
that Taylor Schleich, an economist with Nationwide Financial institution of Canada, has unearthed from latest knowledge that goes towards widespread perception.
Canada has truly minimize an even bigger share of
federal jobs
than america this yr.
In response to Statistics Canada’s newest Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, employment in Canada’s federal authorities fell 3.8 per cent via July, whereas the U.S. federal workforce dropped solely 3.1 per cent via August, he mentioned.
The decline within the Canada’s federal workforce began earlier than 2025 and the election of Prime Minister
Mark Carney
, Schleich factors out.
The 2024 finances below former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau aimed to economize via attrition, and since early that yr the federal workforce has shrunk by about 5 per cent.
Thoughts you, some would argue there was better scope for job cuts in Ottawa. Because of the surge in hiring via most of Trudeau’s tenure, Canada nonetheless employs a bigger share of federal staff, he mentioned. This wasn’t at all times the case. Earlier than 2020 Canada had a smaller authorities footprint than america.
There’s additionally the likelihood that America’s public service is about to get even smaller if Trump carries via on his menace to chop extra U.S. businesses and jobs in the course of the
authorities shutdown
now happening.
Schleich mentioned whether or not the job-cutting pattern continues in Ottawa is tough to say, as we received’t get a take a look at the federal spending plans till Nov. 4.
However to get again to the dimensions of the federal workforce in 2015 earlier than Trudeau took energy would require reducing 14 per cent of workers or about 50,000 jobs, he mentioned.
“It’s laborious to think about this enjoying out as the federal government is planning to develop its attain in a giant approach (e.g. by way of the brand new Construct Canada Houses or the Main Initiatives Workplace),” he mentioned.
“What is obvious is that fewer federal staff received’t be ample to offset the price of a rising listing of spending commitments and forgone revenues by way of tax cuts.”
The
parliamentary finances officer final week forecast
that the federal authorities will put up an annual deficit of $68.5 billion this yr, up from $51.7 billion final yr.
Which leads us to a different of the Nationwide economists’ “consider it or not” revelations.
Canadian governments, provincial and federal, are presently tapping debt markets simply as aggressively as america, whose rising obligations have alarmed buyers world wide.
5 months into the fiscal yr, the Authorities of Canada has auctioned $138 billion of recent bonds, up 44 per cent from the yr earlier than, mentioned Nationwide. Add within the provinces’ $81.5 billion, and the grand whole involves $220 billion in bond provide, a month-to-month tempo equal to 1.4 per cent of
gross home product.
The $2 trillion in gross Treasury bond provide from the U.S. in the identical interval, then again, quantities to 1.3 per cent of GDP.
Join right here to get Posthaste delivered straight to your inbox.
One other change the
age of AI
has thurst upon us is electrical energy is turning into an even bigger drive of inflation.
“The voracious urge for food for energy from knowledge centres has despatched once-sleepy electrical energy demand skyward,” mentioned Douglas Porter, chief economist of BMO Capital Markets, in a latest notice.
This actually reveals up in america, the place electrical energy costs have climbed a median of 6.5 per cent a yr over the previous 5 years. Electrical energy’s weight on the patron worth index is about 2.5 per cent, so the rise has added 0.15 share factors to inflation, he mentioned.
Canada hasn’t seen the identical surge primarily as a result of costs listed here are extra regulated and demand much less “frothy,” mentioned Porter. Canadian prices are up simply 1.4 per cent up to now yr, and the common annual improve over the previous 5 years is about half that of america’.
- Immediately’s Information: Individuals received’t be getting U.S. jobs and unemployment charge knowledge as we speak due to the federal government shutdown
- Inside Nova Scotia’s $60-billion wind gamble to energy Canada’s clear vitality future
- Monetary classes and missteps you possibly can study from Billy Joel
- CRA hits taxpayer with $5,000 in penalties for mistake in reporting U.S. holdings
In case you personal “specified international property” the place the whole price at any time within the yr is greater than $100,000, you’re required to finish Kind T1135, International Earnings Verification Assertion along with your private tax return.
Whereas most of us would agree {that a} Swiss checking account with a worth of greater than $100,000 in it needs to be reported, you won’t understand that shares of international firms comparable to Apple Inc. or Nvidia Corp. should even be disclosed, even when held in a Canadian non-registered brokerage account.
Tax skilled Jamie Golombek fills us in on a case the place a taxpayer was hit with $5,000 in CRA penalties for making a mistake in reporting U.S. holdings.
Learn on
McLister on mortgages
Need to study extra about mortgages? Mortgage strategist Robert McLister’s
Monetary Submit column
may also help navigate the advanced sector, from the newest tendencies to financing alternatives you received’t need to miss. Plus test his
mortgage charge web page
for Canada’s lowest nationwide mortgage charges, up to date every day.
Monetary Submit on YouTube
Go to the Monetary Submit’s
YouTube channel
for interviews with Canada’s main specialists in enterprise, economics, housing, the vitality sector and extra.
Immediately’s Posthaste was written by Pamela Heaven with further reporting from Monetary Submit employees, The Canadian Press and Bloomberg.
Have a narrative thought, pitch, embargoed report, or a suggestion for this article? E-mail us at
.
Bookmark our web site and assist our journalism: Don’t miss the enterprise information you must know — add financialpost.com to your bookmarks and join our newsletters right here
A chainsaw-wielding
Elon Musk
precipitated fairly the stir in Washington earlier this yr when
Donald Trump
established the
Division of Authorities Effectivity
to scale back authorities spending and minimize jobs.
In response to some estimates, lots of of hundreds have been laid off or focused for layoffs, although Musk has since left DOGE and a few workers have been requested to return to work.
However right here’s a
“enjoyable truth”
that Taylor Schleich, an economist with Nationwide Financial institution of Canada, has unearthed from latest knowledge that goes towards widespread perception.
Canada has truly minimize an even bigger share of
federal jobs
than america this yr.
In response to Statistics Canada’s newest Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, employment in Canada’s federal authorities fell 3.8 per cent via July, whereas the U.S. federal workforce dropped solely 3.1 per cent via August, he mentioned.
The decline within the Canada’s federal workforce began earlier than 2025 and the election of Prime Minister
Mark Carney
, Schleich factors out.
The 2024 finances below former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau aimed to economize via attrition, and since early that yr the federal workforce has shrunk by about 5 per cent.
Thoughts you, some would argue there was better scope for job cuts in Ottawa. Because of the surge in hiring via most of Trudeau’s tenure, Canada nonetheless employs a bigger share of federal staff, he mentioned. This wasn’t at all times the case. Earlier than 2020 Canada had a smaller authorities footprint than america.
There’s additionally the likelihood that America’s public service is about to get even smaller if Trump carries via on his menace to chop extra U.S. businesses and jobs in the course of the
authorities shutdown
now happening.
Schleich mentioned whether or not the job-cutting pattern continues in Ottawa is tough to say, as we received’t get a take a look at the federal spending plans till Nov. 4.
However to get again to the dimensions of the federal workforce in 2015 earlier than Trudeau took energy would require reducing 14 per cent of workers or about 50,000 jobs, he mentioned.
“It’s laborious to think about this enjoying out as the federal government is planning to develop its attain in a giant approach (e.g. by way of the brand new Construct Canada Houses or the Main Initiatives Workplace),” he mentioned.
“What is obvious is that fewer federal staff received’t be ample to offset the price of a rising listing of spending commitments and forgone revenues by way of tax cuts.”
The
parliamentary finances officer final week forecast
that the federal authorities will put up an annual deficit of $68.5 billion this yr, up from $51.7 billion final yr.
Which leads us to a different of the Nationwide economists’ “consider it or not” revelations.
Canadian governments, provincial and federal, are presently tapping debt markets simply as aggressively as america, whose rising obligations have alarmed buyers world wide.
5 months into the fiscal yr, the Authorities of Canada has auctioned $138 billion of recent bonds, up 44 per cent from the yr earlier than, mentioned Nationwide. Add within the provinces’ $81.5 billion, and the grand whole involves $220 billion in bond provide, a month-to-month tempo equal to 1.4 per cent of
gross home product.
The $2 trillion in gross Treasury bond provide from the U.S. in the identical interval, then again, quantities to 1.3 per cent of GDP.
Join right here to get Posthaste delivered straight to your inbox.
One other change the
age of AI
has thurst upon us is electrical energy is turning into an even bigger drive of inflation.
“The voracious urge for food for energy from knowledge centres has despatched once-sleepy electrical energy demand skyward,” mentioned Douglas Porter, chief economist of BMO Capital Markets, in a latest notice.
This actually reveals up in america, the place electrical energy costs have climbed a median of 6.5 per cent a yr over the previous 5 years. Electrical energy’s weight on the patron worth index is about 2.5 per cent, so the rise has added 0.15 share factors to inflation, he mentioned.
Canada hasn’t seen the identical surge primarily as a result of costs listed here are extra regulated and demand much less “frothy,” mentioned Porter. Canadian prices are up simply 1.4 per cent up to now yr, and the common annual improve over the previous 5 years is about half that of america’.
- Immediately’s Information: Individuals received’t be getting U.S. jobs and unemployment charge knowledge as we speak due to the federal government shutdown
- Inside Nova Scotia’s $60-billion wind gamble to energy Canada’s clear vitality future
- Monetary classes and missteps you possibly can study from Billy Joel
- CRA hits taxpayer with $5,000 in penalties for mistake in reporting U.S. holdings
In case you personal “specified international property” the place the whole price at any time within the yr is greater than $100,000, you’re required to finish Kind T1135, International Earnings Verification Assertion along with your private tax return.
Whereas most of us would agree {that a} Swiss checking account with a worth of greater than $100,000 in it needs to be reported, you won’t understand that shares of international firms comparable to Apple Inc. or Nvidia Corp. should even be disclosed, even when held in a Canadian non-registered brokerage account.
Tax skilled Jamie Golombek fills us in on a case the place a taxpayer was hit with $5,000 in CRA penalties for making a mistake in reporting U.S. holdings.
Learn on
McLister on mortgages
Need to study extra about mortgages? Mortgage strategist Robert McLister’s
Monetary Submit column
may also help navigate the advanced sector, from the newest tendencies to financing alternatives you received’t need to miss. Plus test his
mortgage charge web page
for Canada’s lowest nationwide mortgage charges, up to date every day.
Monetary Submit on YouTube
Go to the Monetary Submit’s
YouTube channel
for interviews with Canada’s main specialists in enterprise, economics, housing, the vitality sector and extra.
Immediately’s Posthaste was written by Pamela Heaven with further reporting from Monetary Submit employees, The Canadian Press and Bloomberg.
Have a narrative thought, pitch, embargoed report, or a suggestion for this article? E-mail us at
.
Bookmark our web site and assist our journalism: Don’t miss the enterprise information you must know — add financialpost.com to your bookmarks and join our newsletters right here
