Demographic Snapshot of the Federal Public Service, 2014

1. Context – Relative Size and Spending

Between 1983 and 2014, the population of Canada grew from 25.3 million to 35.4 million (40.0%)^{Footnote 2}, while the number of federal public servants increased from 250,822 to 257,138 (2.5%). The federal public service (FPS) currently comprises 0.73% of the Canadian population. This is well below the ratios from the 1980s and early 1990s, which were very close to one percent.

Between 1983 and 2014, the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 116.2%, and real federal program spending increased by 52.4% (in constant dollars). However, over the last year there has been an increase of 2.0% in real GDP and a slight increase of 0.1% in federal program spending, as shown in Figure 1.

Government priorities have had a significant influence on the size of the FPS workforce over the years. The focus in recent years has been on streamlining activities, outsourcing non-critical services and cost reductions. As a result, the FPS workforce decreased by approximately 2.2% over the last fiscal year (2013–14).

Figure 1 - Text version

Fiscal Year	Canadian Population Index	Federal Public Service Workforce Index	Real GDP Index  (in constant dollars – 2007)	Real Program Expenses Index (in constant dollars – 2002)
1983–84	100	100	100	100
1984–85	101	101	106	105
1985–86	102	101	111	100
1986–87	103	100	113	101
1987–88	104	99	118	104
1988–89	105	98	123	104
1989–90	107	99	126	104
1990–91	109	100	126	104
1991–92	110	101	123	104
1992–93	112	101	125	109
1993–94	113	101	128	108
1994–95	114	98	134	108
1995–96	115	96	137	104
1996–97	117	88	140	94
1997–98	118	83	146	96
1998–99	119	81	152	96
1999–2000	120	81	159	96
2000–01	121	84	167	103
2001–02	122	89	170	105
2002–03	124	95	175	110
2003–04	125	97	178	114
2004–05	126	97	184	128
2005–06	127	97	190	125
2006–07	128	100	195	132
2007–08	130	101	198	137
2008–09	131	105	201	140
2009–10	132	109	195	163
2010–11	134	113	202	157
2011–12	135	113	208	153
2012–13	137	111	212	152
2013–14	138	105	216	152

2. Federal Public Service Diversity

a) Gender

In 2014, 54.9% of federal public servants were women, a significant increase since 1983 when women comprised only 41.8% of the workforce.

Figure 2 - Text version

	1983	1988	1993	1998	2003	2008	2014
Men	58.2%	55.7%	52.9%	49.6%	46.7%	45.1%	45.1%
Women	41.8%	44.3%	47.1%	50.4%	53.3%	54.9%	54.9%

Source: Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Note: Figure 2 includes all employment tenures and active employees only (i.e. employees on Leave Without Pay are excluded). The information provided is based on March 31 data.

b) Employment Equity Designated Groups

Representation

Figure 3 shows that there have been modest increases in the representation levels of three out of the four employment equity designated groups in the FPS since 2008–09 . The representation rates for Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and visible minority employees were the same or higher than the previous year, and these groups continue to exceed their respective workforce availability (WFA).^{Footnote 3} However, the representation of women in the FPS decreased slightly from 55.0% in 2012–13 to 54.9% in 2013–14, but this group still remains above its workforce availability of 52.8%.

Figure 3 - Text version

Employment Equity Designated Group	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14	WFA (2006)
Women	55.1%	55.1%	55.3%	55.3%	55.0%	54.9%	52.8%
Aboriginal Peoples	4.2%	4.2%	4.3%	4.5%	4.6%	4.6%	2.9%
Persons with Disabilities	5.6%	5.6%	5.6%	5.7%	5.8%	5.8%	4.0%
Members of a Visible Minority Group	11.1%	11.6%	12.6%	13.3%	14.0%	14.6%	13.0%

Source: Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Population: Indeterminate population and term population of three months or more, excluding employees on Leave Without Pay, in the core public administration (CPA) and employees of separate agencies. Some small separate agencies were not included because of missing information.

Notes: Workforce availability estimates for the federal public service are based on the 2006 Census.

The source of the representation data is the CPA Employment Equity Data Bank, which is populated with self-identification information provided by employees, plus the data from separate agencies' reports to Parliament.

Hiring

Figure 4 shows that the level of new hires for indeterminate and term positions of three months or more remains above the current workforce availability of all employment equity designated groups except for persons with disabilities, which remains below this group's current workforce availability.

Figure 4 - Text version

Employment Equity Designated Group	2012–13	2013–14	WFA (2006)
Women	52.9%	55.2%	52.3%
Aboriginal Peoples	4.9%	4.6%	3.0%
Persons with Disabilities	3.5%	3.3%	4.0%
Members of a Visible Minority Group	14.7%	16.0%	12.4%

Sources: The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (Secretariat) Employment Equity Data Bank (EEDB), Public Service Commission (PSC) hiring and staffing activities files and the Public Service Resourcing System.

Population: Indeterminate population and term population of three months or more in the public service.

Notes: In a PSC context, “the public service" refers to organizations under the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) and is approximately equivalent to the core public administration.

For appointments to the public service, the percentages for Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of a visible minority group are based on the Secretariat’s EEDB and PSC hiring and staffing activities files covering the current fiscal year, where a match was found. This data captures all appointment processes—both advertised and non-advertised.

Due to changes in methodology, figures from fiscal year 2012–13 and beyond are not comparable with previous fiscal years.

The 2006 workforce availability for the public service was provided by the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Workforce availability estimates are based on the 2006 Census and are for the core public administration only.

All appointment figures exclude specified term appointments of less than three months and appointments to separate agencies.

The figures for women appointed to the public service are extracted from PSC hiring and staffing activities files.

c) Language

As shown in Figure 5, the proportions of federal public servants identifying either English or French as their first official language (FOL) have remained relatively stable since 1983 . In 2014, French was identified as the first official language by 28.9% of federal public servants, and English was identified by 71.1%.

Figure 5 - Text version

	1983	1988	1993	1998	2003	2008	2014
English	72.7%	71.8%	71.1%	70.7%	70.5%	70.6%	71.1%
French	27.3%	28.2%	28.9%	29.3%	29.5%	29.4%	28.9%

Source: Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Note: Figure 5 includes all employment tenures and active employees only (i.e. employees on Leave Without Pay are excluded). The information provided is based on March 31 data.

3. Age Profile of the Federal Public Service

Figure 6 compares the age distribution of federal public servants for 2009 and 2014 . Over this five-year period, the age distribution of federal public servants has changed slightly, with a minor shift toward older age groups. There has been a decline in the proportion of employees under 35, and an increase in those 50 and over. However, the 40–54 age group still accounts for almost 50% of the entire FPS workforce.

The average age of federal public servants has increased slightly from 43.9 years in 2009 to 44.9 years in 2014 .

Figure 6 - Text version

Age Band	2009	2014
Under 20	0.3%	0.2%
20–24	4.2%	2.9%
25–29	8.8%	6.9%
30–34	11.1%	11.0%
35–39	11.8%	13.5%
40–44	13.6%	14.0%
45–49	16.8%	15.2%
50–54	16.9%	17.5%
55–59	11.1%	11.8%
60–64	4.2%	5.2%
65 and over	1.2%	1.9%
Total	100.0%	100.0%

Figure 7 shows the distribution of federal public servants by age for selected years between 1983 and 2014 . The baby boomer generation (bars marked by forward slashes) can be seen moving through the age bands. The baby boomer generation used to comprise the highest proportion of the FPS population. However, the fact that the employees of this group now fall within the upper three age categories (45–54, 55–64, 65+) indicates that they are being replaced by employees of Generations X and Y.

Figure 7 - Text version

Age Category	Age	1983	1993	2003	2014
Table 7 Notes Table 7 Note 1 indicates Baby Boomers generation - also distinguished by colour and font weight Return to table 7 note 1 * referrer
Under 25	Under 17	351	12	31	2
	17–18	916table 7 note 1 *	77	160	99
	19–20	4,373table 7 note 1 *	1,209	1,165	1,311
	21–22	8,610table 7 note 1 *	3,402	3,396	2,741
	23–24	12,235table 7 note 1 *	5,686	5,302	3,796
25–34	25–26	14,779table 7 note 1 *	8,253	7,336	5,390
	27–28	16,586table 7 note 1 *	10,915table 7 note 1 *	8,443	7,661
	29–30	17,305table 7 note 1 *	13,131table 7 note 1 *	8,652	9,613
	31–32	17,783table 7 note 1 *	14,968table 7 note 1 *	9,415	10,832
	33–34	17,139table 7 note 1 *	16,491table 7 note 1 *	10,053	12,445
35–44	35–36	16,746table 7 note 1 *	17,928table 7 note 1 *	10,771	13,336
	37–38	12,488table 7 note 1 *	19,039table 7 note 1 *	12,935table 7 note 1 *	14,233
	39–40	11,669	19,530table 7 note 1 *	14,910table 7 note 1 *	14,096
	41–42	10,552	19,453table 7 note 1 *	16,287table 7 note 1 *	14,210
	43–44	9,478	18,428table 7 note 1 *	17,607table 7 note 1 *	14,803
45–54	45–46	9,188	18,071table 7 note 1 *	18,032table 7 note 1 *	14,674
	47–48	9,113	13,036table 7 note 1 *	18,327table 7 note 1 *	15,672table 7 note 1 *
	49–50	9,218	12,033	18,187table 7 note 1 *	17,685table 7 note 1 *
	51–52	9,468	10,330	17,268table 7 note 1 *	17,964table 7 note 1 *
	53–54	8,741	8,492	15,407table 7 note 1 *	18,111table 7 note 1 *
55–64	55–56	8,197	6,778	11,589table 7 note 1 *	14,314table 7 note 1 *
	57–58	8,251	5,317	6,751table 7 note 1 *	11,280table 7 note 1 *
	59–60	7,354	4,026	4,743	8,640table 7 note 1 *
	61–62	5,992	2,665	2,694	5,619table 7 note 1 *
	63–64	3,700	1,678	1,580	3,807table 7 note 1 *
65 and over	65–66	375	800	737	2,286table 7 note 1 *
	67–68	119	390	406	1,218table 7 note 1 *
	Over 69	156	428	553	1,300
Total		250,882	252,566	242,737	257,138

4. Federal Public Service Retirements

As shown in Figure 8, the retirement rate increased slightly between 2009–10 and 2010–11 (from 3.1% to 3.3%) followed by a gradual decrease to 2.9% in 2012–13 and an increase to 3.1% in 2013–14 . There were approximately 7,700 retirements in the FPS during 2013–14 .

As a result of Budget 2012 decisions, many employees who planned to retire during 2012–13 and 2013–14, left the FPS by accepting one of the Workforce Adjustment or Career Transition (for executives) measures. This trend may have an impact on retirement rates, as shown in Figure 8.

The percentage of federal public servants eligible to retire as of March 31, 2014, was 9.8%, up slightly from 9.7% in March 31, 2013 . Current retirees were recruited at a young age and had a long career in the FPS. In 2013–14, 48.0% of retired employees had 30 or more pensionable years of service, compared with only 28.0% in 1982–83 .

Figure 8 - Text version

	Fiscal Year	Retirement Rates
Historical	2009–10	3.1%
	2010–11	3.3%
	2011–12	3.2%
	2012–13	2.9%
	2013–14	3.1%
Estimate	2014–15	3.2%
Projected	2015–16	3.1%
	2016–17	3.3%
	2017–18	3.3%
	2018–19	3.4%

5. Federal Public Service Years of Experience

Figure 9 shows the distribution of federal public servants by experience level. Between 2013 and 2014, employees with 5–14 years of experience had the largest increase (45.3% to 48.7%), whereas employees with 0–4 years of experience had the largest decrease (17.2% to 13.2%).

For March 2015, the proportion of employees with 0–4 and 25+ years of experience is estimated to decrease to 12.1% and 16.1%, respectively, whereas the proportion of employees with 5–14 and 15–24 years of experience is estimated to increase to 49.4% and 22.4%, respectively.

Figure 9 - Text version

Population Distribution (%)

	Year	0–4 Years of Experience	5–14 Years of Experience	15–24 Years of Experience	25+ Years of Experience	Total
Historical	1983	30.3%	44.5%	16.6%	8.6%	100.0%
	1984	29.6%	45.3%	16.5%	8.6%	100.0%
	1985	29.5%	45.5%	16.6%	8.5%	100.0%
	1986	26.6%	47.7%	17.4%	8.3%	100.0%
	1987	20.9%	51.0%	19.6%	8.5%	100.0%
	1988	18.9%	50.8%	22.3%	8.0%	100.0%
	1989	18.9%	48.2%	25.2%	7.6%	100.0%
	1990	19.4%	45.2%	27.8%	7.6%	100.0%
	1991	19.0%	40.9%	29.7%	10.4%	100.0%
	1992	19.8%	39.0%	30.5%	10.6%	100.0%
	1993	20.2%	37.9%	30.7%	11.1%	100.0%
	1994	18.0%	38.8%	31.8%	11.5%	100.0%
	1995	15.2%	40.5%	32.6%	11.7%	100.0%
	1996	11.6%	41.8%	35.3%	11.3%	100.0%
	1997	9.2%	41.0%	37.6%	12.3%	100.0%
	1998	8.7%	39.9%	37.7%	13.8%	100.0%
	1999	10.3%	38.0%	36.2%	15.5%	100.0%
	2000	13.1%	35.3%	34.1%	17.5%	100.0%
	2001	16.8%	32.5%	31.9%	18.8%	100.0%
	2002	21.4%	30.1%	29.0%	19.5%	100.0%
	2003	23.8%	29.1%	27.4%	19.8%	100.0%
	2004	23.7%	29.2%	27.1%	20.0%	100.0%
	2005	21.5%	30.6%	27.8%	20.0%	100.0%
	2006	19.7%	32.1%	27.4%	20.7%	100.0%
	2007	18.0%	35.0%	26.0%	21.0%	100.0%
	2008	18.8%	36.0%	24.8%	20.4%	100.0%
	2009	22.1%	35.7%	23.1%	19.2%	100.0%
	2010	24.0%	36.3%	21.3%	18.4%	100.0%
	2011	23.7%	38.4%	20.3%	17.6%	100.0%
	2012	21.7%	41.2%	20.2%	17.0%	100.0%
	2013	17.2%	45.3%	21.0%	16.6%	100.0%
	2014	13.2%	48.7%	21.6%	16.4%	100.0%
Estimated for March 2015	2015	12.1%	49.4%	22.4%	16.1%	100.0%
Projected	2016	11.9%	47.9%	23.8%	16.5%	100.0%
	2017	12.6%	44.8%	26.4%	16.2%	100.0%
	2018	14.1%	41.4%	28.4%	16.0%	100.0%
	2019	15.6%	39.7%	29.4%	15.2%	100.0%

6. A Knowledge-Intensive Workforce in the Core Public Administration

Since 1983, employees undertaking more knowledge-intensive work comprise an ever-increasing share of the employee population in the core public administration (CPA). The cadre of knowledge workers is highly skilled, with significant expertise gained through a combination of education and experience, and these workers have strong abilities in strategic thinking and communications. The transformation in work has been in response to an increasingly demanding environment, new challenges, and technological advances over this period.

As shown in Figure 10, the five largest knowledge-intensive occupational groups in the CPA (Administrative Services, Program Administration, Computer Systems, Economics and Social Science Services, and Executive) increased or remained almost the same compared with the previous years. In 2014, these occupational groups represented 43.1% of the CPA workforce, while they represented only 16.0% in 1983 .

Figure 10 - Text version

Occupational Group	1983	1988	1993	1998	2003	2008	2014
AS (Administrative Services)	4.5%	5.0%	7.1%	8.5%	11.7%	13.6%	15.1%
PM (Program Administration)	7.3%	7.1%	8.7%	10.1%	9.9%	11.5%	11.3%
CS (Computer Systems)	1.2%	1.6%	2.6%	4.4%	6.5%	6.6%	7.2%
EC (Economics and Social Science Services)	2.0%	2.2%	2.6%	3.9%	5.2%	6.2%	6.8%
EX (Executive Group)	0.9%	1.1%	1.9%	2.0%	2.4%	2.6%	2.7%

1. Population Size of the Executive Group

There were 6,397 executives in the FPS as of March 31, 2014 . More than one half (52.2%) of executives were EX 01s, and only 6.2% were EX 04s and EX 05s.

Between 1983 and 2014, the FPS executive population grew by 75.1%; during the same period, the FPS grew by 2.5%. Compared with last year (2013), there was a 2.5% decrease in the number of FPS executives, while the FPS decreased overall by 2.2%. Executives accounted for only 2.5% of the entire FPS population in 2014, up from 2.2% in 2003 .

2. Executive Diversity

a) Employment Equity Designated Groups Among Core Public Administration (CPA) Executives

Figure 11 illustrates the CPA executive representation levels for all four employment equity groups in 2004 and in 2014 .

Figure 11 - Text version

Employment Equity Designated Group	March 2004	March 2014	WFA (2006)
Women	34.9%	46.1%	44.7%
Aboriginal Peoples	2.9%	3.7%	4.4%
Persons with Disabilities	4.9%	5.4%	4.0%
Members of a Visible Minority Group	4.8%	8.5%	7.3%

Source: Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Population: Indeterminate employees and terms of three months or more in the CPA (departments and agencies for which the Treasury Board is the employer), excluding employees on Leave Without Pay.

Notes: Workforce availability estimates are based on the 2006 Census.

The source of the representation data is the CPA Employment Equity Data Bank, which is populated with self-identification information provided by employees.

March 2014 representation and WFA numbers include EX, GX (General Executive) and LC (Law Management) classifications, whereas March 2004 representation excludes LCs; therefore, the two years cannot be directly compared.

As of March 2014, the CPA representation levels for all designated groups in the executive category, except for Aboriginal peoples, exceeded their respective workforce availability (WFA), as shown in Figure 11.

Compared with last year (2013), the representation levels of executives of all designated groups in the CPA increased or remained the same.

b) Language of Executives

Figure 12 shows that between 1983 and 2014, a growing proportion of executives in the FPS identify French as their first official language (increasing from 20.4% to 30.3%). The current ratio in the executive cadre reflects the ratio in the overall FPS (71.1% identifying English versus 28.9% identifying French).

Figure 12 - Text version

	1983	1988	1993	1998	2003	2008	2014
English	79.6%	79.3%	76.7%	75.1%	72.8%	70.2%	69.7%
French	20.4%	20.7%	23.3%	24.9%	27.2%	29.8%	30.3%

Source: Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Population: Includes all federal public service executives, specifically, CPA 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. The information provided is based on March 31 data.

3. Age of Executives in the Federal Public Service

The age distributions of FPS executives for 2009 and 2014 are shown in Figure 13. The proportion of executives under 50 years of age increased from 45.3% in 2009 to 46.2% in 2014 . In 2013, the percentage was 45.8%. The proportion of FPS executives over 50 during this period decreased from 54.7% in 2009 to 53.8% in 2014 .

The average age of executives in the FPS increased slightly between 2009 and 2014 (from 50.3 years in 2009 to 50.4 years in 2014).

Figure 13 - Text version

Year	Age Band
	25–29	30–34	35–39	40–44	45–49	50–54	55–59	60–64	65+	Total
2009	0.0%	1.4%	7.2%	14.9%	21.7%	28.7%	19.5%	5.8%	0.9%	100.0%
2014	0.0%	0.9%	6.3%	15.3%	23.7%	28.0%	18.9%	5.9%	1.0%	100.0%

Figure 14 shows that the average age for all executives in the FPS has increased; however, since 2003, there has been relative stability in the average age of executives at both the EX 01 to EX 03 levels and the EX 04 to EX 05 levels.

Figure 14 - Text version

	1983	1988	1993	1998	2003	2008	2014
EX 01 to EX 03	48.0	48.0	48.4	49.5	50.3	50.2	50.2
EX 04 and EX 05	50.6	49.8	50.9	52.0	53.6	53.4	53.8