More than 4,000 applications for the federal public service early-retirement incentive program have so far been approved, while 12 have been denied, according to a new online tracker launched by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.
The early-retirement incentive allows eligible public servants to retire early without incurring penalties to their pensions. Normally, employees who retire before meeting their age and service requirements would face pension reductions of five per cent for each year they retired early.
According to the website, 7,310 applications for the incentive had been received as of June 9. Of those, 4,398 had been approved for the program, while 12 applications had been denied.
“Thousands of applications have been approved thus far,” said Mohammad Kamal, director of communications for Shafqat Ali, the president of the Treasury Board.
“While we cannot comment on individual cases in order to protect privacy, applications may be denied where eligibility requirements or other program criteria are not met. Reasons for denial may vary depending on the specific circumstances of each application.”
The deadline for applications to the program is July 24, 2026, and some approvals are expected after that date.
Some departments have said they will not approve any early-retirement incentives.
CBC first reported that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) would not approve any early retirements, citing operational pressures.
CBC also reported that the Royal Canadian Mountain Police, Canadian Border Services Agency employees working at border crossings and employees at the Communications Security Establishment would be shut out of early-retirement incentives.
The early-retirement incentive program was announced in Budget 2025 as a way to limit layoffs stemming from the federal government’s spending review, which will cut billions in spending across most departments and agencies over the next several years.
However, the federal government had to wait months to pass its budget bill before opening up the program to eligible public servants.
Last December, about 68,000 public servants received letters informing them they would be eligible for the early-retirement packages if they fell into either of two groups:
- Those who joined the public service on or before Dec. 31, 2012, are at least 50 years old and have at least two years of pensionable service and 10 years of employment.
- Those who joined the public service on or after Jan. 1, 2013, are at least 55 years old and have at least two years of pensionable service and 10 years of employment within the public service.
Even if a public servant meets those requirements and applies for the program, they are not guaranteed to be approved for early-retirement incentives. The final decision rests with deputy heads who will review applications to ensure they can reduce their workforces while maintaining services.
The program will cut department budgets by half of the salary of each employee approved.
The federal government said the early-retirement incentive program would be sourced from the surplus within the Public Service Pension Plan and would cost about $1.5 billion.
With files from Matteo Cimellaro.
