The federal government gave 802,043 raises to workers between 2020 and 2022 according to government records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).
More than 90% of federal government workers totalling 312,825 employees received at least one raise in 2020 and 2021.
In 2020, 258,596 federal employees received an economic pay increase with an additional 151,247 in 2021 and nearly 30,000 in 2022.
362,764 federal employees received a step pay increase between 2020 and 2022. However, the results do not include pay raises due to promotions, new positions, or the reclassification of a position.
Currently, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which makes up more than 150,000 federal workers, is entering the sixth day of its strike as the union and government attempt to negotiate a fair deal.
“Canadians don’t feel sorry for privileged bureaucrats who took pay raises during the pandemic while the rest of us worried about missing paycheques or losing our jobs,” said CTF Federal Director Franco Terrazzano, “The fact they’re now striking for billions more shows how out-of-touch they are.”
The average pay for a full-time federal employee is $125,300 including pension and benefits, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
“Taxpayers have already paid for hundreds of thousands of pay raises, hundreds of millions in bonuses and for tens of thousands of new bureaucrats,” Terrazzano said. “The bloated bureaucracy doesn’t deserve a penny more from taxpayers.”
Since the strike began on April 19th, Canadians have experienced delays to many public services such as renewing a passport, filing taxes, issuing licenses, certifications and benefit requests.
Hundreds of military members at CFB Petawawa were left without heat or hot water after more than 500 workers at the facility walked off the job last week. Serving members were sent to work from home as both residential and commercial parts of the base were affected.
PSAC is demanding up to 47% increases in compensation over three years, which would cost taxpayers $9.3 billion, according to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.
