Demographic Snapshot of Canada’s Public Service, 2018

1. Number of employees

• 273,571 active employees (211,925 in 2000)
• Represents 0.74% of the Canadian population (0.69% in 2000)

2. Location

• 58.7% of employees are in the regions (64.5% in 2000)
• 41.3% are in the National Capital Region (35.5% in 2000)

3. Employment status

• 83.6% are indeterminate employees (79.8% in 2000)
• 10.6% are term employees (16.8% in 2000)
• 5.8% are casuals and students (3.4% in 2000)

4. Women

• 55.3% of employees are women (52.0% in 2000)
• 48.1% of executives are women (28.0% in 2000)

5. Official languages

• 70.9% indicated English as their first official language (70.3% in 2000)
• 29.1% indicated French as their first official language (29.7% in 2000)

6. Age

• Average age of employees: 44.6 years (43.1 in 2000)
• Average age of executives: 50.2 years (50.0 in 2000)

Relative size and spending

Between 2000 and 2018:

• the population of Canada grew from approximately 30.6 million to 36.8 million (an increase of 20.6%)^Footnote1
• the number of federal public servants increased from 211,925 to 273,571 (29.1%)^Footnote2.

The federal public service comprised 0.74% of the Canadian population in 2018. This is well below the ratios in the 1980s and early 1990s, which were very close to 1% and slightly higher than 0.79% in 2008.

Between 2000 and 2018:

• Canada’s real gross domestic product increased by 46.5%^Footnote3
• real federal program spending increased by 86.4% (in constant dollars)^Footnote4

Most recently, from the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year to the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year, there was:

• an increase of 3.0% in real gross domestic product
• an increase of 6.5% in real federal program spending

Since the 2010 to 2015 period, where the workforce decreased in response to budget reductions, there has been an increase in the federal public service workforce.

Figure 1 shows trends in the economy, the Canadian population, real federal program spending and the size of the federal public service, from 2000 to 2018.

Figure 1 - Text version

Figure 1: trends in the economy, the Canadian population, federal program spending and the size of the federal public service, from 2000 to 2018

Year	Canadian Population Indextable 1 note 1	Federal Public Service Workforce Indextable 1 note 2	Real GDP Indextable 1 note 3, in chained dollars (2012)	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 is 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	142	175
2018	121	129	147	186

Diversity in the federal public service

Gender

As shown in Figure 2, in 2018, women made up 55.3% of the federal public service, a 3.3 % increase from 2000. It is also a considerable increase (32.2%) from 1990.

Figure 2 - Text version

Figure 2: federal public service by gender, 2000 and 2018

Gender	2000	2018
Men	48.0%	44.7%
Women	52.0%	55.3%

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 2018 is almost the same as it was in 2000.

Figure 3 - Text version

Figure 3: first official language of federal public servants, 2000 and 2018

Language	2000	2018
English	70.3%	70.9%
French	29.7%	29.1%

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 2018 by age. From 2010 to 2018, the age breakdown changed slightly, with:

• decreases in the proportion of employees under 34 and those aged 50 to 54
• 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 45.0 years in 2015, to 44.6 years in 2018.

Figure 4 - Text version

Figure 4: federal public servants by age band, 2010, 2015 and 2018, as percentage of public service workforce

Age band	2010	2015	2018
Under 20	0.3%	0.2%	0.3%
20 to 24	4.2%	3.2%	4.5%
25 to 29	8.9%	6.6%	7.4%
30 to 34	11.4%	10.7%	10.1%
35 to 39	12.0%	13.7%	13.3%
40 to 44	13.2%	14.1%	14.7%
45 to 49	16.4%	14.7%	14.4%
50 to 54	16.7%	17.2%	15.1%
55 to 59	11.1%	12.2%	12.3%
60 to 64	4.4%	5.4%	5.7%
65 and over	1.3%	2.0%	2.2%

Figure 5 shows the distribution of federal public servants by age for 2000, 2010 and 2018. 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 represent the largest group of public servants (40.6%).

Figure 5 - Text version

Figure 5: federal public servants by age band, 2000, 2010 and 2018

Age band	Age	2000	2010	2018
Under 25	Under 17	7	14	2
	17 to 18	137	155	157
	19 to 20	1,207	1,783	1,995
	21 to 22	2,663	4,194	4,652
	23 to 24	3,927	6,571	6,248
25 to 34	25 to 26	4,950	8,977	7,668
	27 to 28	5,950	10,472	8,335
	29 to 30	7,035	11,970	8,861
	31 to 32	7,877	12,687	10,605
	33 to 34	9,538	13,518	12,304
35 to 44	35 to 36	11,689	13,327	13,537
	37 to 38	13,263	13,585	15,069
	39 to 40	15,219	14,318	15,859
	41 to 42	16,223	14,393	16,340
	43 to 44	16,858	15,676	15,722
45 to 54	45 to 46	17,432	17,912	15,766
	47 to 48	17,250	18,729	15,952
	49 to 50	16,480	19,439	15,421
	51 to 52	14,526	19,270	15,995
	53 to 54	10,254	18,352	17,708
55 to 64	55 to 56	6,802	14,792	15,210
	57 to 58	5,150	11,731	13,001
	59 to 60	3,320	8,497	9,910
	61 to 62	1,768	5,577	6,593
	63 to 64	1,083	3,359	4,564
65 and over	65 to 66	575	1,665	2,704
	67 to 68	342	967	1,561
	69 and over	398	1,048	1,827

Hiring into the 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. New indeterminate hiring in the core public administration increased by 33.1%, from 11,085 in the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year to 14,751 in the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year.

Figure 6 - Text version

Figure 6: new indeterminate hires into core public administration (CPA) from fiscal year 2000 to 2001 to fiscal year 2017 to 2018

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	4.2%	95.8%
2004 to 2005	9,395	7.7%	92.3%
2005 to 2006	11,092	13.7%	86.3%
2006 to 2007	13,342	19.6%	80.4%
2007 to 2008	17,258	25.9%	74.1%
2008 to 2009	19,968	31.5%	68.5%
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%
2017 to 2018	14,751	37.8%	62.2%

Figure 7 - Text version

Figure 7: new indeterminate hires into core public administration in fiscal year 2017 to 2018, by age

Age	Number of new indeterminate hires in the CPA
	Baby boomers	Generation X	Millennials
17			5
18			33
19			17
20			50
21			118
22			404
23			595
24			646
25			684
26			735
27			680
28			695
29			588
30			553
31			578
32			531
33			508
34			489
35			452
36			457
37		92	333
38		386	20
39		390
40		379
41		338
42		314
43		285
44		299
45		282
46		270
47		233
48		222
49		228
50	51	163
51	187	3
52	206
53	209
54	215
55	152
56	130
57	124
58	97
59	69
60	78
61	59
62	36
63	18
64	15
65	20
66	9
67	6
68	3
70	4
Over 70	4
Median age	34

Retirements from the federal public service

As shown in Figure 8, the retirement rate:

• increased slightly between the 2014 to 2015 fiscal year and the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year (from 3.2% to 3.6%)
• dropped to 3.4% in the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year

The preliminary estimate for the retirement rate for the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year is 3.3%.

Figure 8 - Text version

Figure 8: historical and projected retirement rates for federal public service, fiscal year 2014 to 2015 to fiscal year to 2022 to 2023 fiscal year

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%
	2017 to 2018	3.3%
Estimated	2018 to 2019	3.3%
Projected	2019 to 2020	3.3%
	2020 to 2021	3.3%
	2021 to 2022	3.4%
	2022 to 2023	3.4%

Years of experience in the federal public service

Figure 9 shows the distribution of indeterminate federal public servants by years of experience. Between March 2017 and 2018:

• employees with 0 to 4 years of experience represented the largest increase (from 11.9% in March 2017 to 15.4% in March 2018)
• employees with 5 to 14 years of experience represented the largest decrease (from 49.3% in March 2017 to 43.2% in March 2018)

Based on estimations for March 2019, indicated by the dotted line on the graph:

• the proportion of employees with 0 to 4 years of experience will be 18.9%
• the proportion of employees with 5 to 14 years of experience will be 40.1%
• the proportion of employees with 15 to 24 years of experience will be 28.2%
• the proportion of employees with 25 years or more will be 12.8%

Projections up to March 2029 estimate that these proportions will have changed to 17.4%, 37.3%, 29.4% and 16.0%, respectively.

Figure 9 - Text version

Figure 9: percentage of indeterminate federal public servants by years of experience, from 2000 to 2019 and for 2029 (projected)

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	15.4%	43.2%	28.0%	13.5%
2019	18.9%	40.1%	28.2%	12.8%
2029	17.4%	37.3%	29.4%	16.0%

Figure 9 also shows the percentage of indeterminate federal public servants by years of experience for 2018:

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 the core public administration

In 1990, the public service 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
• 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)
• Executive (EX)

In 2018, these occupational groups represented 43.4% of the core public administration workforce; in 2000, they represented only 31.8%.

Figure 10 - Text version

Figure 10: five largest occupational groups in core public administration (CPA) in select years from 2000 to 2018, as percentage of CPA

Occupational group	2000	2005	2010	2015	2018
AS	9.9%	12.2%	13.8%	14.5%	14.7%
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%	7.4%
EX	2.2%	2.4%	2.5%	2.5%	2.5%

Population size of Executive group

As of March 31, 2018 , there were 6,678 executives in the federal public service:

• about half of them (50.7%) were EX-01s
• only 6.4% were EX-04s and EX-05s

Between 2000 and 2018, the federal public service executive workforce grew by 60.9% because:

• there was an overall increase in knowledge-based occupational groups
• there was an increase in the number of director-level positions classified as EX positions
• deputy heads had control of the size of the Executive group

During the same period, the overall federal public service grew by 29.1%. From 2017 to 2018, the number of executives increased by 3.1%. In 2018, executives made up 2.4% of the entire federal public service, up from 2.3% in 2008 and 2.0% in 2000.

Executive diversity

First official language of executives

As shown in Figure 11, between 2000 and 2018, the proportion of executives in the federal public service who indicated that French is their first official language increased from 26.2% to 32.3%. However, for the overall federal public service, the comparable figures show a decrease, with 29.7% and 29.1%, respectively.

Figure 11 - Text version

Figure 11: federal public service executives by first official language, 2000 and 2018

Language	2000	2018
English	73.8%	67.7%
French	26.2%	32.3%

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 2018. The average age of executives in the federal public service remained relatively unchanged between 2010 and 2018, at 50.2 years of age. The proportion of executives under 50 years of age remained relatively constant between 2010 and 2018, at approximately 46.7% and 47.6%, respectively.

Figure 12 - Text version

Figure 12: federal public service executive population distribution by age band, 2010, 2015 and 2018

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%
2018	0.0%	0.9%	6.2%	17.1%	23.5%	27.5%	17.6%	6.0%	1.2%

Figure 13 shows that between 2000 and 2018:

• 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 hovered between 53 and 54 years of age

Figure 13 - Text version

Figure 13: average age of junior and senior executives, select years, 2000 to 2018

Level	2000	2005	2010	2015	2018
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	53.4

2018 Public Service Employee Survey

The Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) has been conducted every three years since 1999. The Office of the Chief Human Resources Office (OCHRO) of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) transitioned from the triennial survey to an annual survey in 2018, which will enable departments and agencies to measure and track progress more frequently. The annual PSES will contain:

• core questions that are repeated every year
• questions that are inserted on a rotational basis
• questions related to current and emerging government priorities
• organization-specific questions

The 2018 PSES was developed by OCHRO and conducted from August 20 to October 5.

A total of 163,121 employees in 84 federal departments and agencies responded to the 2018 PSES, for a response rate of 57.7%.

Results show that employees are engaged in their work: 80% of employees indicated that they like their job, which is the same percentage as for the 2017 PSES.

Perceptions of senior management are similar to what was found in the 2017 results. In 2018, 58% of employees indicated they have confidence in senior management (57% in 2017).

Employees feel more positive about training but less positive about support for their career development:

• 70% of employees felt that they get the training needed to do their job, an improvement from 2017 (66%)
• 53% of employees felt that their organization does a good job of supporting employee career development, a decrease from 2017 (57%)

Fifteen percent of employees reported harassment on the job in the past 12 months, and 8% of employees reported discrimination on the job in the past 12 months.

Pay system issues, which have not changed considerably since 2017, remain the top stressor for employees. Seventy percent of employees have been affected by issues with the pay system, and only 36% of those affected are satisfied with the support they receive from their department to resolve these issues.

Most employees believe that their workplace is respectful, and the results relating to respect in the workplace were slightly better than they were in 2017. Seventy-eight percent of employees indicated that their organization implements activities and practices that support a diverse workplace, a slight increase from 2017 (76%).

Results about psychological health in the workplace were more positive than in 2017, with 71% of employees indicating that their organization does a good job of raising awareness of mental health in the workplace, up from 67% in 2017. Also, 59% of employees described their workplace as being psychologically healthy, an improvement from 2017 (56%).

The results on diversity and inclusion have remained relatively stable compared to 2017, as 78% of employees indicated that their organization implements activities and practices that support a diverse workplace, a slight increase from 2017 (76%).

For more information, consult the results of the 2018 Public Service Employee Survey.

2018 Student Exit Survey

The Student Exit Survey was developed to:

• inform recruitment and onboarding strategies
• contribute to improvements to the student application process
• lead to enhancements of student work assignments

The survey was conducted between August 7 and September 7, 2018, and included questions related to different stages of the student work term, such as:

• the application process
• onboarding
• the workplace
• the quality of work

Sixty-five organizations participated in the survey, yielding over 6,515 completed surveys. More than half of survey respondents (57%) reported that their first student work term was in summer 2018. A similar proportion (54%) indicated that they were hired through FSWEP (the Federal Student Work Experience Program).

Overall, the results of the Student Exit Survey were quite positive and similar to those of 2017:

• nine out of ten students (90%) agreed that, overall, they had a positive work experience

• almost all students reported that they were treated as part of the team (92%) or that they attended regular team meetings (86%)
• three out of four students (76%) indicated that work assigned to them was interesting
• the majority of students (82%) felt that they had gained an understanding of how government works
• three out of four students (76%) indicated that they would seek a career in the federal public service, and 82% would recommend a public service career to other students

However, similar to results in 2017, 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
• more than half of survey respondents (54%) were impacted by pay issues related to Phoenix, and 49% of the impacted students were satisfied with the support they received from their department or agency to help resolve their pay issues

Students were asked to identify the top three most and least important factors in choosing future employment after completing education. The three most important factors were:

• interesting work (47%)
• competitive wages (41%)
• opportunity to work in their field of study (41%)

The three least important factors selected were:

• job location (40%)
• flexible work arrangements (31%)
• flexibility to work in different areas of the organization (35%)

Students were asked the extent to which they agreed with the following statements about the federal public service:

• 9 out of 10 students (88%) agreed that “the federal public service has excellent benefits and pension plan”
• 45% of respondents agreed that “the federal public service has efficient business processes”