Almost 1,000 more public servants apply for early retirement incentives in under a week

Thousands of public servants have applied for the early retirement incentives. Photo by Jean Levac /Jean Levac

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The government’s early retirement incentives have seen a jump of about 1,000 applications in less than a week, according to the Treasury Board.

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Mohammad Kammal, the director of communications for Shafqat Ali, the president of the Treasury Board, told the Ottawa Citizen that about 4,600 public servants have now applied to the program. Late last week, around 3,700 public servants had applied for the incentives, which allow eligible employees to retire early with no penalty to their pensions.

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The retirement incentives were announced in Budget 2025 as a way to entice public servants to leave voluntarily to mitigate layoffs in the federal public service.

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The federal government is planning to cut about 30,000 jobs over three years and has said it will reach that target through voluntary departures as much as possible.

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“The program is providing eligible public servants with voluntary, structured options to retire early with clarity and predictability,” Kamal said.

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Applications opened for the incentives in late March once the budget implementation bill received royal assent.

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There are two eligible group of employees for the program.

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The first group includes those who joined the public service on or before Dec. 31, 2012, are at least 50 years old and have at least two years of pensionable service and 10 years of employment within the public service.

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The second group includes those who joined the public service on or after Jan. 1, 2013, are at least 55 years old and have at least two years of pensionable service and 10 years of employment within the public service.

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Treasury Board officials have said that not everyone who applies will be granted the early retirement incentives and it will be up to deputy ministers to approve applications.

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Kamal added that the federal government recognizes that applying is a “major decision” for eligible employees and have made “additional resources available at the Pay and Pension centre to support them in making informed decisions.”

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