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Population of the federal public service by department or agency

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About the data

When reading the table below, the following information applies:

  • Source of information: Pay System as of of each year.
  • The federal public service consists of 2 population segments: the core public administration and separate agencies.
  • Departments and agencies in the core public administration are named in schedules I and IV of the Financial Administration Act. The Treasury Board is the employer of this segment of the federal public service.
  • Separate agencies are named in Schedule V of the Act. Separate agencies conduct their own negotiations or set their own classification levels for their employees.
  • Included in this information are:
    • active employees of all employment tenures (indeterminate, term, casual and student)
    • Governor-in-Council appointees
    • deputy Ministers
    • federal Judges
  • Excluded from this information are:
    • inactive employees (i.e., employees on leave without pay)
    • ministers’ exempt staff
    • employees locally engaged outside of Canada
    • RCMP Regular Force Members
    • RCMP Civilian Members
    • Canadian Armed Forces members
  • Population counts for the following separate agencies are not included because their employee information is not available in the Pay System:
    • Canadian Security Intelligence Service
    • National Capital Commission
    • Canada Investment and Savings
    • Canadian Forces Non-Public Funds
    • Security Intelligence Review Committee (before 2010)
  • Please note that organizations have been created, merged, disassembled and/or renamed over the years. The composition of departments can change from year to year.
  • The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has three segments of employees. They are public service employees, Civilian members, and Regular members. The data presented in the table only includes the public service employees.
Population of the federal public service by department or agency
Department or agency Year
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Core public administration
Accessibility Standards Canada 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 44 55 60 62
Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada 349 374 570 548 579 587 628 655 722 706 679
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 5,194 5,167 5,234 5,277 5,292 5,531 5,495 5,638 5,677 5,774 5,690
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency 604 615 593 586 588 594 626 624 623 602 579
Canada Border Services Agency 14,113 14,171 13,707 14,013 14,469 14,971 15,224 15,441 16,520 17,226 17,234
Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions 331 333 336 307 324 320 360 374 370 376 371
Canada School of Public Service 646 648 610 599 620 668 647 707 742 679 597
Canadian Dairy Commission 56 60 61 68 65 65 71 70 73 75 85
Canadian Grain Commission 408 403 435 426 429 430 447 455 453 466 463
Canadian Heritage 1,773 1,762 1,759 1,841 1,862 1,889 1,935 2,062 1,975 1,929 1,910
Canadian Human Rights Commission 204 205 191 206 199 242 252 279 297 300 287
Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat 23 22 22 21 24 23 22 26 28 39 40
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency 75 77 78 81 76 99 109 113 111 115 123
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission 462 450 462 455 493 534 541 546 564 639 733
Canadian Space Agency 600 616 655 647 692 686 744 789 885 948 1,015
Canadian Transportation Agency 241 239 223 235 272 292 355 291 313 377 358
Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP 74 71 67 67 76 80 77 81 92 107 96
Copyright Board Canada 17 14 14 16 15 16 16 16 17 19 22
Correctional Service Canada 17,639 17,172 17,109 17,146 17,482 17,818 17,904 17,925 18,527 18,990 18,902
Courts Administration Service 618 668 636 647 715 788 765 758 810 861 831
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada 4,684 4,582 4,708 4,931 5,087 5,418 2,072 2,092 2,204 2,088 1,892
Department of Finance Canada 743 735 747 788 802 833 853 875 908 942 963
Department of Justice Canada 4,476 4,461 4,461 4,532 4,659 4,844 4,972 5,070 5,378 5,637 5,608
Elections Canada 630 634 584 676 777 903 1,261 1,046 1,040 1,250 1,729
Employment and Social Development Canada 21,707 22,312 23,729 24,739 25,160 27,115 32,697 35,609 38,983 39,089 39,154
Environment and Climate Change Canada 6,595 6,475 6,601 6,836 7,276 7,550 7,616 7,840 8,411 8,901 8,778
Farm Products Council of Canada 19 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 89 103
Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario 218 222 217 235 240 274 316 344 331 321 240
Federal Judges not part of any department 1,144 1,141 1,128 1,165 1,198 1,204 1,209 1,190 1,183 1,185 1,224
Fisheries and Oceans Canada 9,858 9,901 10,230 11,138 11,911 12,654 13,526 13,537 14,526 14,716 14,451
Global Affairs Canada 5,973 5,890 6,061 6,354 6,561 6,860 6,994 7,112 7,460 7,439 7,657
Health Canada 9,079 9,189 9,327 9,739 10,794 11,223 9,204 9,886 10,003 10,187 9,628
Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 954 973 1,031 1,087 1,413 1,742 1,993 2,114 2,304 2,579 2,507
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada 6,385 6,587 6,465 6,993 7,864 8,496 8,991 10,248 12,258 13,092 11,148
Impact Assessment Agency of Canada 229 258 289 278 330 438 460 432 452 535 586
Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Indigenous Services Canada 0 0 0 0 0 0 6,670 7,030 7,722 8,637 8,577
Infrastructure Canada 354 351 329 401 514 617 700 1,043 1,350 1,506 1,667
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada 4,742 4,776 4,947 5,146 5,459 5,516 5,700 6,094 6,331 6,531 6,526
International Joint Commission 32 32 32 31 30 34 31 33 33 32 30
Law Commission of Canada 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 6
Library and Archives Canada 1,026 938 930 927 981 1,000 926 842 1,013 1,173 1,138
Military Grievances External Review Committee 42 35 39 33 37 41 46 44 48 52 54
Military Police Complaints Commission of Canada 22 26 25 18 25 28 28 28 32 33 29
National Defence 22,611 22,954 23,178 24,024 25,278 26,047 26,422 26,399 27,356 28,740 29,121
Natural Resources Canada 4,149 4,191 4,264 4,358 4,551 4,574 4,685 4,737 5,302 5,751 6,044
Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada 54 59 59 62 58 66 72 68 68 65 73
Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada 27 26 24 22 25 26 25 28 27 32 33
Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages 172 164 155 164 174 173 177 178 167 178 170
Office of the Governor General's Secretary 156 166 149 148 148 167 158 177 184 172 163
Office of the Prime Minister 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada 25 26 24 23 25 27 34 31 36 34 35
Offices of the information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada 282 259 261 256 252 302 323 356 304 323 353
Parole Board of Canada 467 447 448 453 462 485 479 463 494 554 496
Patented Medicine Prices Review Board Canada 60 69 69 61 74 80 79 77 83 81 80
Privy Council Office 727 712 799 1,006 1,075 1,011 1,076 1,130 1,212 1,288 1,208
Public Health Agency of Canada 2,186 2,223 2,234 2,159 2,379 2,340 3,281 4,254 4,211 4,251 3,372
Public Prosecution Service of Canada 968 970 990 1,005 991 1,035 1,082 1,118 1,173 1,177 1,149
Public Safety Canada 978 1,125 1,149 1,205 1,329 1,269 1,256 1,381 1,622 1,695 1,789
Public Service Commission of Canada 738 741 780 809 889 955 878 899 975 892 803
Public Services and Procurement Canada 12,092 12,061 12,894 13,988 15,721 16,892 17,085 17,178 18,114 18,961 18,936
RCMP External Review Committee 6 7 6 6 8 10 15 22 25 24 23
Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada 213 212 216 230 225 237 233 221 248 249 249
Royal Canadian Mounted Police 6,437 6,571 6,801 7,240 7,564 8,022 8,436 8,690 9,386 10,309 11,220
Secretariat of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians 0 0 0 0 5 9 6 6 9 7 10
Shared Services Canada 5,236 5,157 5,257 5,816 6,528 7,185 7,553 7,948 8,879 9,502 8,894
Statistics Canada 4,890 5,717 5,187 5,210 5,405 5,452 6,360 6,364 6,219 7,220 7,274
Transport Canada 5,205 5,154 4,782 5,362 5,683 5,877 6,339 6,063 6,366 6,714 6,666
Transportation Safety Board of Canada 213 215 209 210 216 225 231 226 209 218 230
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat 1,761 1,728 1,841 1,954 2,125 2,276 2,355 2,378 2,555 2,501 2,374
Veterans Affairs Canada 3,174 3,413 2,809 2,800 3,159 3,321 3,799 3,566 3,651 3,792 3,779
Veterans Review and Appeal Board 0 0 86 85 79 77 93 97 113 161 178
Western Economic Diversification Canada 297 292 279 302 316 349 394 461 518 511 507
Women and Gender Equality Canada 92 91 99 121 181 264 329 390 468 443 395
Separate agencies
Canada Energy Regulator 447 469 456 477 479 503 553 556 572 573 582
Canada Revenue Agency 40,059 39,484 40,223 42,152 43,908 45,019 47,426 54,933 59,019 59,155 52,499
Canadian Food Inspection Agency 6,009 5,946 6,180 6,249 6,247 6,042 6,539 6,603 6,929 6,833 6,380
Canadian Institutes of Health Research 432 409 462 470 502 505 539 569 614 618 523
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission 822 851 859 899 903 863 862 858 930 969 1,004
Canadian Polar Commission 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Communications Security Establishment 2,168 2,162 2,209 2,361 2,549 2,752 2,974 3,018 3,161 3,490 3,686
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada 84 94 99 115 128 147 161 196 216 231 239
Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada 355 374 378 372 361 376 401 523 545 556 541
Indian Oil and Gas Canada 80 85 88 88 87 88 88 85 75 79 87
National Film Board 394 389 371 399 392 388 389 379 383 388 343
National Research Council Canada 3,618 3,780 3,864 3,871 4,058 4,215 4,380 4,301 4,423 4,519 4,688
National Security Intelligence and Review Agency 0 0 0 0 0 0 73 67 92 85 89
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Canada 418 444 442 447 475 511 536 524 543 522 541
Office of the Auditor General of Canada 571 588 617 603 601 639 749 655 793 836 746
Office of the Intelligence Commissioner 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 5 4
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada 700 667 688 721 769 848 903 942 1,139 1,323 1,256
Parks Canada 3,394 3,886 3,976 4,202 4,356 4,519 4,666 4,702 4,811 4,929 4,842
Polar Knowledge Canada 0 29 27 61 61 72 69 75 89 82 92
Security Intelligence Review Committee 18 20 22 25 22 20 0 0 0 0 0
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada 209 210 211 210 244 275 308 304 341 379 387
Statistical Survey Operations 1,642 1,701 1,797 1,504 1,485 1,454 2,208 2,318 1,732 9 4
The Correctional Investigator Canada 35 37 36 33 41 38 38 37 36 39 36
Total 257,034 258,979 262,696 273,571 287,983 300,450 319,601 335,957 357,247 367,772 357,965

Archived information

Archived information is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been updated or modified since it was archived. To access reports no longer available on this webpage, please visit the Government of Canada web archive or Government of Canada publications catalogue.

Open datasets

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For more information, review the Open Data Licence Agreement, visit the Open Data Portal or browse more datasets.

March 2025 population data will be published on Open Government at later date.

Data file Description
Population of the federal public service by department or agency

These data present population counts by department or agency for all federal public service organizations (all departments and agencies governed by the Financial Administration Act (FAA) Schedules I, IV and V) from to .
Population of the federal public service by department and tenure

These data present population counts by department and tenure for all federal public service organizations (all departments and agencies governed by the Financial Administration Act (FAA) Schedules I, IV and V) from March 31, 2010 to March 31, 2024.
Population of the federal public service by department and province or territory of worktable 2 note 1 These data present population counts by department and province or territory of work for all federal public service organizations (all departments and agencies governed by the Financial Administration Act (FAA) Schedules I, IV and V) from March 31, 2010 to March 31, 2024.table 2 note 1
Population of the federal public service by department and age band

These data present population counts by department and age for all federal public service organizations (all departments and agencies governed by the Financial Administration Act (FAA) Schedules I, IV and V) from March 31, 2010 to March 31, 2024. Suppressed values are displayed as * and will be read as zero in any tabulation such as pivot tables.
Population of the federal public service by department and executive level These data present population counts by department and executive level for all federal public service organizations (all departments and agencies governed by the Financial Administration Act (FAA) Schedules I, IV and V) from March 31, 2010 to March 31, 2024.
Population of the federal public service by department and average age These data present population counts by department and average age for all federal public service organizations (all departments and agencies governed by the Financial Administration Act (FAA) Schedules I, IV and V) from March 31, 2010 to March 31, 2024. Suppressed values are displayed as * and will be read as a zero in any tabulation such as pivot tables.
Population of the federal public service by department and first official language These data present population counts by department and first official language for all federal public service organizations (all departments and agencies governed by the Financial Administration Act (FAA) Schedules I, IV and V) from March 31, 2010 to March 31, 2024. Suppressed values are displayed as * and will be read as a zero in any tabulation such as pivot tables.
Population of the federal public service by department and sex These data present population counts by department and sex for all federal public service organizations (all departments and agencies governed by the Financial Administration Act (FAA) Schedules I, IV and V) from March 31, 2010 to March 31, 2024. Suppressed values are displayed as * and will be read as a zero in any tabulation such as pivot tables.

Table 2 Notes

Table 2 Note 1

As of 2016, a portion of the geographic data is not available due to changes in the centralized data systems. This results in an increase in the number of employees being attributed to an unknown region or province or territory of work.

Return to table 2 note 1 referrer

Glossary of key terms

To assist you with your analysis of federal public service human resources data, we have compiled a glossary of key terms that are used in many of the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer’s (OCHRO) demographic snapshots and reports. This glossary has been developed to help provide a common language across OCHRO’s demographic snapshots and reports.

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