More cuts at the CRA at the expense of the population
May 1, 2025
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Today, May 1, 2025, as the world marks International Workers’ Day, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has once again demonstrated its profound disrespect for its own employees. It was on this highly symbolic day that the CRA informed more than 1,000 of our term members working in Contact Centres across the country that their contracts will not be renewed when they expire on May 16.
This gesture is not only insensitive, but it is also indicative of a lack of respect that seems to be deeply rooted within the Agency. Indeed, on this date last year, the CRA announced that it was not renewing the contracts of approximately 2,000 of our term members working in its Contact Centres, whose contracts expired on May 10, 2024. This year, it is doing it again by laying off dedicated staff en masse, who have never ceased to demonstrate their commitment and ability to serve Canadians in often difficult conditions.
These cuts have serious human and social consequences. Behind each contract that is not renewed is a person, a family, a life situation that is turned upside down. These are parents who have to explain to their children that they don’t know when they will find a job again. These are people who have devoted time and energy to their work, and who are thanked without consideration, without recognition. It’s not just positions that are being eliminated. It is means of subsistence that are being crushed. These are communities that are being weakened.
And the impacts don’t stop there. This decision will also have a direct impact on the quality of the services that the CRA is supposed to provide to the public. Fewer staff in Contact Centres means longer wait times, slower services, and growing frustration among taxpayers and businesses. Those who remain in their positions will have to take on an increased workload in an already extremely high stress climate. Morale is in free fall. The mental health of our members is severely shaken.
We are deeply saddened for the members who are affected by these cuts and for their families. We share their anger, pain and frustration.
The Union of Taxation Employees condemns this decision in the strongest possible terms. We know that this choice is not just the responsibility of the Agency. It is the direct result of pressure from the federal government, which is imposing budget cuts while saying it wants to “optimize” services to the population. This same government that claims to be committed to the public service does not hesitate to sacrifice its own workers on the altar of austerity.
We call on Prime Minister Mark Carney and his newly elected government to immediately stop these cuts, which are direct attacks on public services . Furthermore, in these uncertain economic times, now is definitely not the time to cut jobs! The work our members do at the CRA is very important and helps maintain the social programs that Canadians can rely on. We demand an end to contempt, an end to the erosion of the workforce, an end to the precariousness of work.
It is high time for the federal government to understand that our members working at the Canada Revenue Agency represent a very important asset and not just an expense item in its budget.
In Solidarity,
Marc Brière
National President
Union of Taxation Employees