Annual Report 2024 to 2025: Building tomorrow’s public service today

Overview of the public service

Workforce and recruitment

Public Service Employment Act workforce population and new hires

For the first time in 10 years, the federal public service workforce under the Public Service Employment Act declined.

Driven by a steep decline in external hiring, the population fell by 1.0% (2 861 employees) over the fiscal year, resulting in an overall population of 279 707 employees as of March 31, 2025. ^Endnote1, ^Endnote2

Slightly more than half of the workforce hired worked outside the National Capital Region (53.2%); this share has remained stable for the past 5 years. ^Endnote3

Despite a 34.4% reduction in indeterminate hiring, their population grew. This is primarily the result of 8 514 employees being converted from term to indeterminate status.

Student hiring increased, but the overall student population on March 31, 2025, declined; likely because many assignments ended before the last day of the fiscal year.

See Annex 2 for the geographical distribution of public service external hires and Public Service Employment Act workforce population.

Refer to our interactive graphic on regional representation for more information on the regional breakdown of total and employment equity group population and external hiring.

The decline in external hiring is also reflected in the top 5 occupational groups that typically account for the highest number of indeterminate and term hires.

External non-advertised processes

Public service hiring may be done through advertised processes that are posted on the GC Jobs website, or through non-advertised processes, where a hiring manager may identify a specific individual to be hired.

Deputy heads are responsible for establishing the conditions for when each of these processes should be used, based on their specific context and hiring needs.

In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, 46.8% of external hires were through non-advertised processes, compared to 47.8% the year before. ^Endnote4

See Annex 3 for employment equity group non-advertised appointments.

Student hiring

Over the fiscal year, the number of hires through the Federal Student Work Experience Program and the Research Affiliate Program increased compared to the previous year, while the number of hires through the Post-Secondary Co‑op/Internship Program remained stable. ^Endnote5

*People who self-declare in more than 1 designated employee equity group are included in the total count for each group (for example, an Indigenous woman is included in the total count for both women and Indigenous Peoples).

This fiscal year, there were 4 006 indeterminate and term external hires with previous student experience in a federal student recruitment program. This is a decrease from 4 626 external hires in fiscal year 2023 to 2024.

Bringing students into the public service introduces fresh perspectives while also helping to fill critical skills gaps in high-demand and specialized fields. This is why I am committed to promoting the Government of Canada as an employer to students at the schools I represent as Deputy Minister University Champion.

We continued to support the Deputy Minister University Champion Initiative by organizing and participating in on-campus and virtual activities across Canada to promote careers in the public service. This initiative encourages high-quality education and research, ensuring the public service has access to cutting-edge ideas and emerging scholars, as well as a well-educated, bilingual and expert workforce to drive innovation and service excellence.

Applicants to public service jobs

In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, there were 453 250 applicants to externally advertised federal public service positions, an increase of 8.7% (36 085 more applicants), compared to the previous year.

The share of applicants who self-declared as Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities and women was lower than their workforce availability. In contrast, the share of applicants who self-declared as members of visible minorities continues to surpass their workforce availability.

See Annex 1 for detailed applicant data for employment equity groups and subgroups. ^{Endnote7 Endnote9 Endnote11}

Refer to our interactive employment equity dashboard for more data on hiring activities and applicants for employment equity groups and subgroups.

Median time to hire new public servants

In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, the median time to hire new public servants increased to 221 days, up from 214 days in the previous year. ^Endnote13 More work is needed to achieve our target timeframe of 167 days for hiring new public servants.

Efficient and timely staffing processes are essential to maintaining the effectiveness of public service activities and program delivery. Prolonged delays can significantly diminish candidates’ engagement and motivation. Timely staffing allows managers to hire the best candidates while reducing productivity losses.

Priority entitlements

Priority entitlements support people who experience career changes because of events often beyond their control, including:

• being medically released from the Canadian Armed Forces or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
• workforce adjustment
• no longer able to perform the duties of their position
• returning from extended leave

In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, the number of persons with a priority entitlement increased by 13.1%, from 1 142 to 1 292. This ends a 4-year trend where the size of the priority talent pool consistently declined. An increase was also observed in the number of new registrations, up from 686 to 824 (20.1%).

The priority talent pool remains a sound first option for meeting varied staffing needs. The number of priority appointments declined (to 316, compared with 353 in the previous year), coinciding with an overall drop in staffing activities.

Continuing to enhance our data and analysis

Use of recruitment platforms

Application data is derived from the Public Service Resourcing System (the recruitment and data management platform of the Public Service Commission of Canada). However, 26 departments and agencies acquired licenses to use other recruitment platforms or used the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s GC Digital Talent platform for all or part of their staffing processes. As a result, the application data reported is underrepresented by approximately 100 000 applications received through these platforms. Without full access to applicant data from these platforms, our ability to identify and report on key hiring trends is impacted.

We have begun working with departments and agencies to close the gap by creating a data transfer to monitor and report on all recruitment activity and support our oversight of public service hiring.

Having multiple platforms also increases overall costs at a time when departments and agencies are looking to find efficiencies and reduce operating costs. Based on a sampling in fiscal year 2024 to 2025, we noted that 21 departments and agencies collectively awarded over $2.5M in new contracts for alternative recruitment solutions to support their staffing and recruitment processes. Across the federal government, the cumulative annual expenditure on alternative platforms is conservatively estimated to exceed $5M, not including indirect costs for setting these contracts up and implementing systems within departments.

Enhanced data collection on non-advertised processes

We are taking steps to increase our understanding of non-advertised appointments. This fiscal year, we introduced new data entry fields to capture the rationale for non-advertised processes. While the data will be refined, it provided more transparency and some early indications of how non-advertised processes are being used.

Highly specialized skills, shortage areas and pressing operational needs were the most frequently given rationales for non-advertised processes. Other reasons included shifts in employment type (for example, casual to term), hiring of former students (bridging) and appointments in support of employment equity objectives.

In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, we published our Audit on the Application of the Order of Preference for Veterans During the Data Transfer Outage Between the Department of National Defence and the Public Service Commission of Canada. The audit found that the preference entitlement for appointment was not respected for some veterans, and that this was due to a technical issue related to the data transfer process. The issue may have led to some eligible veterans not being properly identified for preference entitlement in the Public Service Resourcing System.

As a result of the audit, we worked with departments, agencies and veterans to help qualified veterans who may have been affected by the issue to secure public service employment. The audit’s results led to new data transfer management practices between the Department of National Defence and the Public Service Commission of Canada to help ensure information is more accurate and up to date. We also took steps to increase departments and agencies’ understanding of the preference entitlement for veterans, including developing new guidance for hiring managers.

Eligible veterans who may have been affected by the data transfer outage were also provided with an additional period to apply to jobs open only to public servants through the Eligibility of Certain Former Members of the Canadian Forces Regulations. ^Endnote16

Appointment of veterans

The Veterans Hiring Act came into force in July 2015. It amended the Public Service Employment Act to facilitate the transition of eligible Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans into federal public service positions. It introduced 3 key mechanisms to improve their access public service jobs: priority appointment (priority entitlement), access to internal jobs (mobility) and preference in external appointments.

The number of medically released Canadian Armed Forces members activating their priority entitlement declined, down 5%, from 336 members available for job opportunities on March 31, 2024, to 318 on March 31, 2025. This reduction corresponds to a decrease in priority appointments of medically released Canadian Armed Forces members, with 75 appointments, representing 8 fewer appointments compared to the previous year.

In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, there were 122 appointments under the mobility provision, up from 106 in the previous fiscal year.

Following the Audit on the Application of the Order of Preference for Veterans During the Data Transfer Outage Between the Department of National Defence and the Public Service Commission of Canada, the number of appointments made under the preference provision was updated for fiscal years 2021 to 2022, 2022 to 2023, and 2023 to 2024.

As a result, we identified the following additional appointments under the preference provision:

• 21 in fiscal year 2021 to 2022
• 47 in fiscal year 2022 to 2023
• 15 in fiscal year 2023 to 2024

In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, there were 96 appointments under the preference provision, down from 119 in the previous year.

Protecting and overseeing the staffing system’s integrity

The Public Service Commission of Canada safeguards the core values of merit and non-partisanship to maintain the trust of Canadians in the integrity of the public service and to uphold our accountability to Parliament.

Through audits, surveys, studies and data analytics, the Commission monitors public service hiring and non-partisanship at a system-wide level. This overview provides a picture of compliance with legislation and policy, as well as a view of key trends, issues and opportunities to enhance the staffing system. This view is complemented by monitoring and oversight within departments and agencies, which provides an understanding of hiring on a case-by-case basis.

The investigation function allows detection and correction of founded issues, such as cases of fraud in appointments, or improper political activities. These investigations also highlight any emerging gaps or risks, which may influence future audits or policy guidance.

Merit-based hiring

Merit is the cornerstone of federal public service hiring, ensuring that hiring decisions are based on candidates’ qualifications. To be hired in the public service, candidates must meet all essential merit criteria such as education, experience, knowledge, competencies, and official languages. Managers can also identify asset qualifications, operational requirements (such as availability to travel), and specific organizational needs (for instance, increasing representation of an employment equity group) that candidates must meet to be appointed.

The following section presents the results of our audit in this regard for fiscal year 2024 to 2025.

System-wide staffing audit

The Results of the Second System-Wide Staffing Audit was published in fiscal year 2024 to 2025. Drawing from close to 300 appointment files from 19 departments and agencies, the audit looked at compliance with legislative and policy requirements, as well as any risks to the integrity of public service hiring.

Overall, the audit results revealed strong compliance with key requirements and provided assurance that hiring was based on merit. The rate of compliance in appointment files exceeded 96% for most job qualifications and those qualifications met applicable standards in 93% of cases.

Despite finding strong overall compliance, the audit did reveal a weakness in current practices: a lack of consistency between the English and French versions of key appointment process information. Inconsistencies such as differences in statements of qualification between English and French advertisements may increase or decrease the likelihood of francophones or anglophones applying to, or qualifying for, these positions. The audit recommended that deputy heads take concrete steps to respect official languages obligations throughout the appointment process.

Investigations of appointment processes

This fiscal year, the Public Service Commission of Canada received 265 requests for investigations related to allegations of fraud, errors, omissions or improper conduct in an appointment process that could affect meritorious hiring. These included:

• 139 requests related to error, omission or improper conduct, or to merit not being met, in external appointment processes (jobs open to the public)
• 29 deputy head requests for investigations on their behalf related to error, omission or improper conduct in internal appointment processes (jobs open to public servants)
• 97 requests related to fraud

Departments and agencies will need to take action to build trust in their staffing processes. This may include better communication and implementing strategies to make hiring policies and practices more inclusive.

The survey’s results also shed light on whether staffing decisions influence employees’ perceptions of merit. The findings revealed that:

• employees’ perceptions of merit within the staffing system are not directly affected by the choice of process (advertised or non-advertised)
• when information about staffing actions is communicated, employees tend to have a more positive view of the staffing system
• managers who reported feeling pressured to select a particular candidate during a staffing process are significantly less likely to believe that the process is based on the core principle of merit

Non-advertised appointments

Our study on non-advertised appointments, based on data for fiscal year 2022 to 2023, showed that representation of women and visible minorities in both advertised and non-advertised appointments has improved, with notable gains across most visible minorities subgroups. We also observed significant progress in non-advertised appointments for persons with disabilities since the Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada was implemented. For Indigenous Peoples, representation in non-advertised appointments was consistently above their workforce availability; however, they have not experienced a strong upward trend in these appointments.

We looked at how various factors affected whether promotions were non-advertised or advertised. Our data suggests that occupational category, region and gender may influence the odds of a promotion being non-advertised:

• promotions in the technical category are most likely to be non-advertised, while those in the operational category are least likely
• promotions in the National Capital Region are more likely to be non-advertised compared to other regions
• women are slightly more likely than men to receive non-advertised promotions

Acting appointments

In the public service, when an employee is away on leave or due to other circumstances, another employee may replace them; this is referred to as an acting appointment. This year, we looked deeper into these temporary appointments.

Audit of Employment Equity Representation in Acting Appointments

The Audit of Employment Equity Representation in Acting Appointments (published in September 2024) examines 10 years of acting appointment data (from 2011 to 2021). It looks at trends in the representation of designated employment equity groups in federal public service acting appointments, as well as departmental staffing practices related to employment equity.

This audit found that representation in acting appointments of 6 months and more for 3 of the 4 employment equity groups (women, visible minorities and Indigenous Peoples) was on par with or exceeded their representation in the federal public service.

Employees with disabilities were consistently underrepresented in acting appointments in comparison to their representation in the public service. All 4 employment equity groups were underrepresented in acting appointments in positions related to skilled technical activities, like engineering and inspection.

The audit provides recommendations for improving representation in the workplace so that all public servants can realize their full potential.

Study on acting appointments

The audit was complemented by our study titled Representation in Acting Appointments (published in February 2025), which looked at whether the 4 employment equity groups are proportionately represented in acting appointments of 4 months or more.

Like the audit, the study found that the representation of women, Indigenous Peoples and members of visible minorities in acting appointments was higher than their representation in the federal public service. However, a breakdown by occupational categories shows areas where representation of employment equity groups and subgroups in acting appointments of 4 months or more is below their representation in the federal public service.

The study also found that persons with disabilities are underrepresented in acting appointments in all occupational categories compared to their representation in the federal public service.

Non-partisanship and political activities

Public servants wishing to seek nomination as, or to be, a candidate in a municipal, provincial, territorial or federal election must first request and obtain permission from the Commission.

Through our assessments, and by implementing conditions and mitigation measures that those public servants must comply with, we help ensure that their right is exercised without compromising the neutrality of the public service. This process helps safeguard the impartiality and trustworthiness of the public service, reinforcing public confidence.

When making these decisions, the Commission considers factors such as:

• the level of the election
• the employee’s duties, including their level of authority and influence in decision making
• the level and visibility of the employee’s position

Taking into consideration these factors and their interconnection, the Commission must be satisfied that seeking candidacy and being a candidate will not impair or be perceived as impairing the employee’s ability to perform their duties in an impartial manner.

We work with the employee and their management to understand an employee’s responsibilities before deciding to grant permission. We also collaborate with deputy heads, who are responsible for overseeing the implementation of conditions imposed on permissions granted to their employees. This careful review of each request allows most candidacy permission requests to be granted, but with targeted conditions to mitigate any risk, real or perceived, to non-partisanship in the federal public service.

All permission requests handled in fiscal year 2024 to 2025 were granted, as any risks identified to political impartiality could be addressed with mitigating conditions that removed risks of political influence in public service operations.

2025 federal election and outreach

For the 2025 federal election, the Commission granted the highest ever number of permission requests, including an influx of 14 requests in March 2025, soon before the election was called.

Despite the volume and timing of the requests, decisions were provided within the regulated 30-day timeframe.

As the federal election approached, we increased our engagement with employees by:

• including new guidance on public servants, political activities and social media
• delivering 34 outreach sessions, tailored by topic (candidacy or non-candidacy political activities) and by audience (managers, departments/agencies, all employees, designated political activities representatives)
  • we also participated in panels and other events, reaching more than 5 500 participants
• responding to 198 inquiries from employees, departments and agencies and members of the public about legal rights and obligations related to political activities

Political activities and public service values

This fiscal year, we took part in the Clerk of the Privy Council’s renewed conversation on values and ethics within the federal public service.

We continued to work closely with the values and ethics community, as well as our designated political activities representatives in departments and agencies. The goal was to provide clear and consistent messaging to help employees make informed decisions on their political engagement and to uphold public sector values, such as respect for democracy.

Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey: Awareness of rights and responsibilities related to political activities

The 2023 Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey emphasized the continued importance of non-partisanship in the federal public service. It reminded employees of their responsibilities regarding political neutrality, and enhanced awareness and understanding of the standards for political impartiality across the public service.

Survey results indicate that public servants’ understanding of their responsibilities related to political impartiality is high (90%). Results also show that public servants believe that employees in their work unit carry out their duties in a politically impartial manner (91%). As well, 91% of employees reported being aware that expressing their political views on social media could impact their ability to remain politically impartial or to be perceived as impartial, when carrying out their public service duties. However, less than two thirds (65%) of public servants are aware of their responsibilities when seeking a nomination as, or becoming, a candidate in an election.

Investigating improper political activities

The Public Service Commission of Canada implemented a new approach for investigating allegations of improper candidacy-related political activities to ensure irregularities are addressed and corrected in a timely manner.

Under this new model, when making the decision to investigate, various factors are considered, including the risk to the political impartiality of the federal public service and the possibility of addressing the issue without an investigation. This could include an awareness letter informing an individual of an allegation, reminding them of their obligations if they wish to participate in political activities in the future as well as the possible consequences for future non-compliance.

We continue to receive and analyze all allegations of improper political activities, determining the appropriate response on a case-by-case basis. In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, we received 22 requests related to improper political activities, completed 3 investigations that were founded and sent awareness letters in 10 of the reported cases.

Hiring persons with disabilities

As part of the Government of Canada’s accessibility strategy launched in May 2019, a goal was set to hire 5 000 net new persons with disabilities in the federal public service over 5 years.

Since then, we have worked with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat to monitor progress and support departments and agencies. This helped set targets for closing the representation gap while taking projected attrition into consideration. We developed a specialized forecasting tool (a macrosimulation model) that uses data on staffing, employee movement, departures and self-identification to project future hiring needs. The latest data available showed that a total of 6 921 net new persons with disabilities had been hired by the end of fiscal year 2023 to 2024, exceeding the original target one year ahead of schedule.

We continued to support inclusive hiring by expanding our Ambassador Network for Inclusive Assessments (accessible only on the Government of Canada network). In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, the network welcomed 13 new members, bringing the total to 74 ambassadors from 40 departments and agencies. To promote inclusive practices, the network organized 29 activities for ambassadors, including training sessions on the use of AI in assessment and strategies to reduce biases and barriers in assessment processes.

As well, through the Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities, over fiscal year 2024 to 2025, we launched several initiatives, including a project to retain interns who have not found ongoing employment. A total of 40 internships were completed. Of those, 28 interns were offered continued employment, resulting in a 70% retention rate.

GC Jobs Transformation

Through the GC Jobs Transformation project, we lead the recruitment component of the future human resources and pay solution.

Originally implemented government-wide in 2003, the current recruitment platform is dated and lacks the end-to-end recruitment functionality departments and agencies need.

As a short-term measure, we’ve taken these steps to modernize the current recruitment platform:

• made system enhancements which have reduced inquiries from HR by 41%
• released an improved Web Experience Toolkit, optimizing performance on mobile devices
• strengthened security and performance through technology upgrades, laying the groundwork for a more intuitive and user-friendly experience

These enhancements established a strong foundation for continued modernization and improved user experience across the recruitment platform.

In parallel, the GC Jobs Transformation project represents a longer-term initiative to integrate recruitment into the Government of Canada’s broader vision for transforming human resources and pay systems. During fiscal year 2024 to 2025, processes related to recruitment were designed and configured as part of the Human Capital Management Feasibility Project, led by Public Services and Procurement Canada’s HR and Pay Transformation initiative.

Communication for enhanced support and efficiency

As we navigate this rapidly evolving environment and face the risk of inconsistent or false information about staffing, the Public Service Commission of Canada is committed to communicating actively with departments and agencies, as well as with the human resources community, to provide effective support and factual information. To this end, we launched the Empowering Excellence newsletter in fiscal year 2024 to 2025. The newsletter, sent to deputy heads, and shared with the human resources community and bargaining agents, includes highlights, updates and staffing support tools for the federal public service. Three editions were published in fiscal year 2024 to 2025, including a special issue on diversity, inclusion and accessibility.

See Annex 4 for Empowering Excellence newsletters issued in fiscal year 2024 to 2025. ^Endnote18

Note: These totals may exceed 100%, since a person can self-declare and self-identify in more than 1 category given that the categories above are not mutually exclusive.

Note: These totals may exceed 100%, since a person can self-declare and self-identify in more than 1 category given that the categories above are not mutually exclusive.

Note: These totals may exceed 100%, since a person can self-declare and self-identify in more than 1 category given that the categories above are not mutually exclusive.

Empowering Excellence

June 2024

Strengthening Official Languages: Audit insight

While our second System-Wide Staffing Audit found high compliance with staffing requirements, departments and agencies need to implement measures to tackle ongoing issues related to official languages obligations in the staffing process and report on their progress to the PSC.

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Deep dive into staffing and diversity: the data you need

Where does your organization stand? Explore the Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey results to help improve your staffing strategies. This year’s survey included new questions assessing perceptions of biases and barriers in staffing processes that affect equity-seeking groups, helping you identify gaps or areas requiring attention.

Empowering Excellence

Fall 2024

Did you know: Conditional offers

Hiring managers can make conditional offers to candidates in a range of circumstances, including on-the-spot hiring at career fairs, or to hire a student awaiting graduation.

See our guidance on conditional offers for considerations and details.

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Improving second language testing

We’re working on implementing a self-serve automated test scheduling system by March 31, 2025, to improve efficiency and user experience. In the meantime, we’re drawing on operational improvements and innovation in assessment to improve wait times for oral language testing.

Empowering Excellence

Special Edition 2024

Presenting the Diversity and Inclusion Compass

A new interactive data visualization tool* allows users to explore the progress of departments and agencies in improving the representation and mobility of employment equity group members. This tool provides results you can use to draw comparisons with other federal public service organizations, over a range of time periods.

*Accessible only on the Government of Canada network.

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Update on non-advertised appointment analysis

This updated analysis looks at the representation of employment equity groups in advertised and non-advertised appointments from April 1, 2013, to March 31, 2023.

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© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the President of the Public Service Commission of Canada, 2025.

Cat. No. SC1E-PDF (Electronic PDF, English)
ISSN 1912-0842