President’s Message: Budget acknowledges understaffed and overworked public service

Late last week, the government tabled the 2026 provincial budget, A Plan to Protect Ontario. Throughout the budget presentation, the government repeatedly touted its decision not to cut public sector positions as one example of its plan to protect Ontario. But a closer look at the budget itself presents a more complicated picture. 

It is true that the budget does not include reductions in public sector positions. However, the Ontario Public Service has been subject to a hiring freeze for eight years now, and a similar freeze has now been instituted for Ontario’s agencies and commissions. 

In fact, as the budget states, “Ontario’s public service relative to population is leaner than that of the federal government or any other province or territory.” The budget also notes that Ontario has the fewest public servants proportionate to government spending. In the chart accompanying this information, you can see public sector growth in Ontario flatlining. 

So, can you or should you be bragging about protecting Ontario and public sector jobs when our public sector is already the thinnest, most overstretched in the country? 

Truly protecting the province would mean investing in strengthening the public service. It would mean ending the hiring freeze and instead staffing based on need. It would mean building capacity in-house, rather than outsourcing needs through expensive third-party contracts. It would mean enshrining flexibility, including remote work, instead of locking the government into leases and real estate purchases that do not benefit taxpayers.

AMAPCEO made these recommendations to the government in our pre-budget consultations. Going forward, we urge the government to do more than the bare minimum to protect Ontario and its public services. We urge the government to invest in, strengthen, and grow the public service—in other words – do something worth boasting about. 

Stronger together,