Demographic Snapshot of Canada’s Federal Public Service, 2017

Highlights

• 262,696 active employees (211,925 in 2000)
• represents 0.72% of the Canadian population (0.69% in 2000)
• 58.9% of employees are in the regions; 41.1% are in the National Capital Region
• 84.7% are indeterminate employees, 10.0% are term employees, and 5.3% are casuals and students
• 55.1% of employees are women (52.0% in 2000)
• 47.0% of executives are women (28.0% in 2000)
• 70.8% of employees indicated English as their first official language (70.3% in 2000)
• 29.2% indicated French as their first official language (29.7% in 2000)
• average age of employees: 44.9 years (43.1 in 2000)
• average age of executives: 50.2 years (50.0 in 2000)

Relative size and spending

Between 2000 and 2017, Canada’s population grew from about 30.6 million to 36.6 million (an increase of 19.5%),^Footnote1 and the federal public service increased from 211,925 to 262,696 (24.0%). The federal public service currently makes up 0.72% of the Canadian population. This is well below the proportions in the 1980s and early 1990s, which were very close to 1%, and slightly higher than 0.69% in 2000.

Between 2000 and 2017, Canada’s real gross domestic product increased by 43.2% and real federal program spending increased by 74.9% (in constant dollars). Between fiscal year 2015 to 2016 and fiscal year 2016 to 2017, real gross domestic product increased by 1.4% and federal program spending increased by 4.5%.

Government priorities have significantly influenced the size of the federal public service workforce over the years. The focus in recent years has been on streamlining activities, outsourcing services and reducing costs. As a result, the federal public service workforce decreased between 2010 and 2015, with a slight increase since 2015.

Figure 1 shows trends in the economy, the Canadian population, federal program spending and the size of the federal public service, from 2000 to 2017.

Figure 1 - Text version

Year	Canadian Population Indextable 1 note 1	Federal Public Service Workforce Indextable 1 note 2	Real GDP Indextable 1 note 3 (in 2007 dollars)	Real Program Expenses Indextable 1 note 4 (in 2002 dollars)
Table 1 Notes Table 1 Note 1 Based on data as of April 1 for each year. Return to table 1 note 1 referrer Table 1 Note 2 Based on active employees only and based on data as of March 31 for each year. Return to table 1 note 2 referrer Table 1 Note 3 Based on calendar year data. Return to table 1 note 3 referrer Table 1 Note 4 Based on fiscal year data. Program expenses include transfers and were deflated using the Consumer Price Index. Return to table 1 note 4 referrer
2000	100	100	100	100
2001	101	106	105	107
2002	102	112	107	109
2003	103	115	110	115
2004	104	115	112	119
2005	105	115	116	133
2006	106	118	119	130
2007	107	120	123	137
2008	108	124	125	142
2009	110	129	126	145
2010	111	134	123	170
2011	112	133	126	163
2012	113	131	130	159
2013	114	124	133	158
2014	116	121	136	158
2015	117	121	140	159
2016	118	122	141	167
2017	120	124	143	175

Federal public service diversity

Gender

As shown in Figure 2, in 2017, women made up 55.1% of the federal public service, a 3.1 percentage point increase from 2000. It is also a considerable increase from 1990 (45.6%).

Figure 2 - Text version

Gender	2000	2017
Men	48.0%	44.9%
Women	52.0%	55.1%

Source: Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Notes

Population: Includes all employment tenures and does not include employees on leave without pay.

The information provided is based on data as of March 31.

First official language

As shown in Figure 3, the breakdown of federal public servants by first official language in 2017 is almost the same as it was in 2000.

Figure 3 - Text version

Language	2000	2017
English	70.3%	70.8%
French	29.7%	29.2%

Source: Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Notes

Population:Includes all employment tenures and active employees only (employees on leave without pay are excluded).

The information provided is based on data as of March 31.

Age of federal public servants

Figure 4 compares the breakdown of federal public servants in 2010, 2015 and 2017 by age. From 2010 to 2017, the age breakdown changed slightly, with decreases in the proportion of employees under 34 and those aged 50 to 54 and with increases in the proportion of employees aged 35 to 39 and those aged 40 to 44.

The average age of federal public servants increased slightly, from 43.9 years in 2010 to 44.9 years in 2017, but has remained unchanged since 2015.

Figure 4 - Text version

Age band	2010	2015	2017
Under 20	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%
20 to 24	4.2%	3.2%	3.8%
25 to 29	8.9%	6.6%	6.6%
30 to 34	11.4%	10.7%	10.2%
35 to 39	12.0%	13.7%	13.6%
40 to 44	13.2%	14.1%	14.6%
45 to 49	16.4%	14.7%	14.6%
50 to 54	16.7%	17.2%	16.1%
55 to 59	11.1%	12.2%	12.5%
60 to 64	4.4%	5.4%	5.6%
65 and over	1.3%	2.0%	2.2%

Figure 5 shows the distribution of federal public servants by age for 2000, 2010 and 2017. Up until 2015, baby boomers (people born between 1946 and 1966) made up the largest group of federal public servants; however, they are being replaced by Generation Xers (people born between 1967 and 1979) and millennials (people born after 1979). Generation Xers now represents the largest group of public servants (40.6%).

Figure 5 - Text version

Age band	Age	2000	2010	2017
Under 25	Under 17	7	14	1
	17 to 18	137	155	90
	19 to 20	1,207	1,783	1,644
	21 to 22	2,663	4,194	3,770
	23 to 24	3,927	6,571	5,022
25 to 34	25 to 26	4,950	8,977	6,267
	27 to 28	5,950	10,472	7,106
	29 to 30	7,035	11,970	8,377
	31 to 32	7,877	12,687	10,484
	33 to 34	9,538	13,518	11,843
35 to 44	35 to 36	11,689	13,327	13,360
	37 to 38	13,263	13,585	14,645
	39 to 40	15,219	14,318	15,423
	41 to 42	16,223	14,393	15,611
	43 to 44	16,858	15,676	15,008
45 to 54	45 to 46	17,432	17,912	15,480
	47 to 48	17,250	18,729	15,242
	49 to 50	16,480	19,439	15,266
	51 to 52	14,526	19,270	17,027
	53 to 54	10,254	18,352	17,585
55 to 64	55 to 56	6,802	14,792	14,980
	57 to 58	5,150	11,731	12,695
	59 to 60	3,320	8,497	9,397
	61 to 62	1,768	5,577	6,344
	63 to 64	1,083	3,359	4,358
65 and over	65 to 66	575	1,665	2,500
	67 to 68	342	967	1,491
	69 and over	398	1,048	1,676

Hiring into core public administration

Figure 6 shows indeterminate hiring in the core public administration over time. Indeterminate hiring has been on the rise since the 2012 to 2013 fiscal year. Hiring increased by 44.0%, from 7,698 in the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year, to 11,085 in the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year.

Figure 6 - Text version

Fiscal year	Number of new indeterminate hires into CPA	Millennials (%)	Non-millennials (%)
2000 to 2001	9,986	0.4%	99.6%
2001 to 2002	12,365	1.1%	98.9%
2002 to 2003	14,130	2.4%	97.6%
2003 to 2004	14,084	2.4%	97.6%
2004 to 2005	9,395	6.2%	93.8%
2005 to 2006	11,092	6.5%	93.5%
2006 to 2007	13,342	11.4%	88.6%
2007 to 2008	17,258	15.2%	84.8%
2008 to 2009	19,968	22.4%	77.6%
2009 to 2010	16,304	36.3%	63.7%
2010 to 2011	11,677	40.9%	59.1%
2011 to 2012	8,642	43.7%	56.3%
2012 to 2013	2,865	44.8%	55.2%
2013 to 2014	4,315	47.7%	52.3%
2014 to 2015	6,093	53.7%	46.3%
2015 to 2016	7,698	54.1%	45.9%
2016 to 2017	11,085	60.6%	39.4%

As indicated in Figure 7, more than half of new indeterminate hires in the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year were born after 1979 (64.0%), bringing the median age of new indeterminate hires to the core public administration to 33.

Figure 7 - Text version

Generation	Age	Number of new indeterminate hires in the CPA
Table 2 Notes Table 2 Note 1 Median age 33 Return to table 2 note * referrer
Millennials	17	4
	18	28
	19	13
	20	35
	21	88
	22	284
	23	440
	24	498
	25	567
	26	578
	27	564
	28	528
	29	511
	30	458
	31	443
	32	399
	33table 2 note *	371
	34	328
	35	316
	36	332
Generation X	37	305
	38	246
	39	282
	40	229
	41	237
	42	214
	43	217
	44	206
	45	191
	46	219
	47	205
	48	184
	49	179
Baby boomers	50	159
	51	156
	52	147
	53	150
	54	154
	55	125
	56	103
	57	95
	58	82
	59	55
	60	45
	61	32
	62	25
	63	23
	64	10
	65	6
	66	7
	67	3
	68	3
	69	3
	70	1
	Over 70	1

Retirements from federal public service

As shown in Figure 8, the retirement rate decreased slightly between the 2011 to 2012 fiscal year and the 2012 to 2013 fiscal year (from 3.2% to 2.9%), then gradually increased to 3.4% in the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year. The preliminary estimate for retirements in the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year is 8,000 (3.4%).

As a result of Budget 2012 decisions, many employees who had planned to retire during the 2012 to 2013 and 2013 to 2014 fiscal years left the federal public service in those years by accepting one of the government’s work force adjustment measures or career transition measures (for executives).

Figure 8 - Text version

Type of rate	Fiscal year	Retirement rate
Historical	2011 to 2012	3.2%
	2012 to 2013	2.9%
	2013 to 2014	3.1%
	2014 to 2015	3.2%
	2015 to 2016	3.6%
	2016 to 2017	3.4%
Estimated	2017 to 2018	3.3%
Projected	2018 to 2019	3.2%
	2019 to 2020	3.3%
	2020 to 2021	3.4%
	2021 to 2022	3.4%

Years of experience in federal public service

Figure 9 shows the distribution of indeterminate federal public servants by years of experience. Between 2016 and 2017, employees with 0 to 4 years of experience represented the largest increase (from 10.4% to 11.9%) while employees with 25 years or more of experience represented the largest decrease (from 16.8% to 13.6%).

As of March 2017, the proportions of employees with 5 to 14 years and 25 years or more of years of service were estimated to be 49.3% and 13.6%, respectively. The proportion of employees with 0 to 4 years of experience was estimated to be 11.9%, and those with 15 to 24 years of service was 25.2%.

Figure 9 - Text version

Year	0 to 4 years	5 to 14 years	15 to 24 years	25 years or more
2000	13.1%	35.3%	34.1%	17.5%
2001	16.8%	32.5%	31.9%	18.8%
2002	21.4%	30.1%	29.0%	19.5%
2003	23.8%	29.1%	27.4%	19.8%
2004	23.7%	29.2%	27.1%	20.0%
2005	21.5%	30.6%	27.8%	20.0%
2006	19.7%	32.1%	27.4%	20.7%
2007	18.0%	35.0%	26.0%	21.0%
2008	18.8%	36.0%	24.8%	20.4%
2009	22.1%	35.7%	23.1%	19.2%
2010	24.0%	36.3%	21.3%	18.4%
2011	23.7%	38.4%	20.3%	17.6%
2012	21.7%	41.2%	20.2%	17.0%
2013	17.2%	45.3%	21.0%	16.6%
2014	13.2%	48.7%	21.6%	16.4%
2015	11.0%	49.4%	22.9%	16.7%
2016	10.4%	48.2%	24.6%	16.8%
2017	11.9%	49.3%	25.2%	13.6%
2018	14.1%	42.1%	27.4%	13.5%
2028	17.2%	33.1%	31.1%	15.8%

Figure 9 also shows the percentage of indeterminate federal public servants by years of experience for 2017:

0 to 4 years	5 to 14 years	15 to 24 years	25 years or more
11.9%	49.3%	25.2%	13.6%

Knowledge-intensive workforce in core public administration

In 1990, the workforce was composed mainly of clerical and operational workers. Since then, employees undertaking more knowledge-intensive work comprise an ever-increasing share of employees in the core public administration. The cadre of knowledge workers is highly skilled, with significant expertise gained through a combination of education, training and experience. The transformation in work has been in response to an increasingly demanding environment, new challenges and technological advances since 2000.

As shown in Figure 10, the five largest knowledge-intensive occupational groups in the core public administration increased since 2000. These groups are Administrative Services (AS), Program Administration (PM), Computer Systems (CS), Economics and Social Science Services (EC) and Executive (EX). In 2017, these occupational groups represented 42.6% of the core public administration workforce; in 2000, they represented only 31.8%.

Figure 10 - Text version

Occupational group	2000	2005	2010	2015	2017
AS	9.9%	12.2%	13.8%	14.5%	14.4%
PM	9.7%	12.8%	11.3%	10.8%	11.8%
CS	5.5%	6.6%	6.4%	7.0%	6.8%
EC	4.4%	5.3%	5.9%	6.6%	7.1%
EX	2.2%	2.4%	2.5%	2.5%	2.6%

Population size of Executive group

As of March 31, 2017, there were 6,480 executives in the federal public service. About half of them (51.0%) were EX 01s, and only 6.2% were EX 04s and EX 05s.

Between 2000 and 2017, the federal public service executive workforce grew by 56.1% because of an overall increase in knowledge-based occupational groups, an increase in the number of director-level positions classified as EX positions, and because deputy heads had control of the size of the Executive group. During the same period, the overall federal public service grew by 24.0%. From 2016 to 2017, the number of executives increased by 1.0%. In 2017, executives made up 2.5% of the entire federal public service, up from 2.3% in 2007, and 2.0% in 2000.

Executive diversity

First official language of executives

As shown in Figure 11, between 2000 and 2017, the proportion of executives in the federal public service who indicated that French is their first official language increased from 26.2% to 32.0%. In the overall federal public service, 70.8% of employees have English as their first official language and 29.2%, French.

Figure 11 - Text version

Language	2000	2017
English	73.8%	68.0%
French	26.2%	32.0%

Source: Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Notes

Population: Includes all federal public service executives, specifically, core public administration executives and their equivalents in separate agencies (such as Executive group (EX) and Management group (MG) classifications) in all tenures (indeterminate, term and casual). It does not include executives on leave without pay or those whose data on first official language is missing.

The information provided is based on data as of March 31.

Age of executives in federal public service

Figure 12 shows the age breakdown of federal public service executives for 2010, 2015 and 2017. The proportion of executives under 50 years of age remained relatively constant between 2010 and 2017 at approximately 46% to 47%. The proportion of executives over 50 decreased slightly from 53.3% in 2010 to 52.9% in 2017.

The average age of executives in the federal public service remained relatively unchanged between 2010 and 2017, at approximately 50 years of age.

Figure 12 - Text version

Year	Age band
	25 to 29	30 to 34	35 to 39	40 to 44	45 to 49	50 to 54	55 to 59	60 to 64	65 and over
2010	0.0%	1.4%	7.4%	15.6%	22.4%	28.0%	18.4%	5.8%	1.0%
2015	0.0%	0.8%	6.9%	15.6%	22.8%	27.7%	19.2%	5.8%	1.2%
2017	0.0%	0.7%	7.0%	16.3%	23.0%	27.6%	18.5%	5.5%	1.3%

Figure 13 shows that between 2000 and 2017, the average age of junior executives at the EX 01 to EX 03 levels in the federal public service remained stable at approximately 50 years of age. The average age of senior executives at the EX 04 to EX 05 levels has also remained stable at around 54 years of age since 2005.

Figure 13 - Text version

Level	2000	2005	2010	2015	2017
EX 01 to EX 03	49.8	50.6	49.9	50.1	50.0
EX 04 and EX 05	52.5	53.9	53.5	53.7	53.8

The average age in 2017 for the various employees in the executive groups of the federal public service described in Part 2 of this document is as follows:

• Executives: 50.2 years
• EX 01 to EX 03: 50.0 years
• EX 04 and EX 05: 53.8 years

2017 Public Service Employee Survey

The Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) has been conducted every 3 years since 1999 to measure federal public service employees’ opinions on various aspects of their workplace. The survey results allow individual departments and agencies to benchmark and track the state of people management practices in their organization and to develop and refine action plans to address issues.

A total of 174,544 employees in 86 federal departments and agencies responded to the 2017 Public Service Employee Survey, for a response rate of 61.3%.

The 2017 results showed that there have been improvements since 2014 in many areas. The areas with the greatest improvements are career development, empowerment, organizational performance, senior management, and employee engagement.

However, survey results were less positive than in 2014 for some questions about ethics in the workplace. Employees were also less likely than in 2014 to indicate that their organization implements activities and practices that support a diverse workplace.

The 2017 results for harassment and discrimination were similar to those of 2014.

Over two-thirds of employees indicated that their pay or other compensation had been affected by issues with the Phoenix pay system.

More than half of employees would describe their workplace as being psychologically healthy, and 1 in 5 employees indicated that, overall, their work-related stress is high or very high.

Pay or other compensation-related issues were the top cause of stress at work, with approximately 1 in 3 employees indicating that they cause them stress to a large or very large extent. Other causes of stress at work included not having enough employees to do the work, a heavy workload, competing or constantly changing priorities, and unreasonable deadlines.

For more information, please consult the results of the 2017 Public Service Employee Survey.

2017 Student Exit Survey

The Student Exit Survey was developed to inform recruitment and onboarding strategies, contribute to improvements to the student application process and lead to enhancements of student work assignments. The survey was conducted between August 9 and September 15, 2017, and included questions related to different stages of the student work term, such as the application process, onboarding, the workplace and the quality of work.

Seventy-six organizations participated in the survey, yielding 5,315 completed surveys. More than half of survey respondents (57%) reported that summer 2017 was their first student work term. A similar proportion (58%) indicated that they were hired through FSWEP (the Federal Student Work Experience Program).

Overall, the results of the Student Exit Survey were quite positive:

• Nine out of ten students (92%) agreed that overall, they had a positive work experience
• Almost all students reported that they were treated as part of the team (93%) or that they attended regular team meetings (87%)
• Three out of four students (77%) indicated that work assigned to them was interesting
• Almost three-quarters of the respondent group felt that their job was a good fit with their interests (74%) or with their skills or field of study (72%)
• The majority of students (82%) felt that they had gained an understanding of how government works
• Three out of four students (77%) indicated that they would seek a career in the federal public service, and 83% would recommend a public service career to other students

However, students were less positive about certain aspects of their work or work conditions:

• Almost one in four students (23%) believed that they were given too little work
• Almost one in four students (23%) felt they weren’t given a clear work plan
• Almost two-thirds of the respondent group (63%) were impacted by pay issues related to Phoenix, and 50% of the impacted students were satisfied with the support they received from their department or agency to help resolve their pay issues

The survey asked students to provide suggestions to improve the student work experience. The following four recommendations were the most frequently cited:

• Provide and commit to a clear work plan
• Give sufficient work
• Give interesting work
• Provide regular feedback