The federal science sector is under strain, according to a new report by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC). The report warns that if federal scientific research is not properly funded and sustained, Canadians will be left vulnerable.
“Federal scientists have weathered more than a decade of cuts, restrictions, and uncertainty. They helped Canada navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate emergency, and countless smaller crises that never made headlines. Their expertise will be essential for whatever challenges lie ahead,” the report reads. “But expertise is fragile. It takes years to build and can disappear in budget cycles.”
PIPSC represents over 85,000 public-sector workers including scientists, researchers and engineers working for the federal government. These workers saw 4,000 jobs cut between 2010 and 2015. The union says federal science is still paying the price of these cuts today.
After examining 12 years of survey data from thousands of federal scientists, PIPSC found that only 6.5 per cent of federal scientists say their department has adequate research funding and more than a third of research labs are past their planned life cycle.
“Cuts mean consequences that won’t just be felt in labs – they’ll be felt in communities,” said PIPSC President Sean O’Reilly. “Defunding federal science means slower responses to wildfires, fewer food inspections, weaker disease monitoring, and delayed action on environmental threats. These cuts hit the systems Canadians rely on every day, often without even realizing it.”
READ MORE: Carney cuts could lead to more than 50,000 job losses, research shows
The report highlights the changes in how many scientists would recommend their careers to young people. Only 10 per cent of federal scientists would have “definitely” recommended their jobs in 2013. This number increased up to 38 per cent in 2021.
PIPSC’s report attributes this increase to the government rolling back restrictions and introducing scientific integrity policies. However, PIPSC says this optimism in federal science was short-lived. In 2024, the percentage of people who would recommend a career in federal science fell to 26 per cent.
“This report is a clear warning: our federal scientific capacity is fragile, already under pressure, and can’t take another hit,” O’Reilly said.
Further demonstrating the scientific despair, only 44 per cent of scientists felt that government policies were based on scientific evidence in 2024. This is a 13 percentage point drop from 2021.
“This matters beyond government walls,” the report reads, “when scientists lose faith that evidence drives decisions, the public loses its early warning system for emerging threats.”
Beyond funding concerns, PIPSC also highlighted the importance of scientific freedom and integrity. The report shows that political interference and barriers to open communication have left scientists muzzled. The union is also calling for more protections of the right to express.
“Scientific integrity means the right to speak and to publish, not the right to seek permission to do so,” the union’s report reads.
PIPSC laid out 10 recommendations to reinvigorate federal science. Their asks include funding to fill at least 3,000 research positions by 2027, hire Scientific Integrity Officers and launch a Science Capacity Rebuild Fund.
“Fixing inefficiencies means tackling what’s really holding public science back — unstable funding, political interference, inconsistent priorities, costly outsourcing, and outdated infrastructure,” said O’Reilly. “Public science takes decades to build and seconds to cut. In a time of global instability, we should be strengthening the institutions that make Canada strong, safe, and independent – not weakening them.”
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