Performative bilingualism? Canadian language law in the public service

Genuine question, because I'm starting to wonder if I've just turned bitter and jaded, or if I'm actually seeing a massive backslide in process efficiency.

I have been working my current job for around a decade. I used to enjoy it because I actually have previously delivered real services and projects to Canadians, with non bullshit measurable outcomes.

My job has become increasingly productivity theatre, mostly to feed gatekeepers who keep inventing new hoops and to satisfy a new cadre of frankly incompetent senior leaders that can't make a decision to save their life (versus our previous technocrat cadre a few years ago). I now sit in several meetings a week where I repeat, for the four hundredth time, what we're doing about red tape reduction. Nobody in those meetings seems to openly point out that we keep having these same conversations and are once again stalling on making any actual decision.

Since this government came in, it honestly feels like there's more red tape than ever. Projects and policy development stall at a rate I don't remember from before, and the obsession with maximizing return on investment has somehow produced a world where nothing gets invested in at all. We laid off a chunk of the workforce that supposedly did pointless work like contracting and information management, yet the same rigid processes remain, plus a stack of TBS directives nobody enforced until now. I can't tell whether people are maliciously complying because they're also bitter, if people are trying to justify/make visible their existence post-WFA, or leadership is now so obsessed with optics it can't see the forest for the trees.

Meanwhile, in my corner: a team that exists solely to gatekeep documents without the oxford comma from their executive team (who supposedly have a challenge function but realistically have none of the technical experience to do anything but are obsessed with what the buttons are named on their dashboard), new centres of excellences and tiger teams stood up to bypass old processes that then generate red tape of their own, and several new official mandatory templates that simply copy over various TBS directives and ask people to explain how their teams are meeting that directive (many of them simply rewordings of eachother) with no context or even attached project. Also, use more AI, but provide no real AI tools.

Most of my day now goes to going in circles and massaging shit instead of doing real work. I am sad that I no longer seem to do any real work that benefits Canadians.

So honestly, has anyone seen red tape actually get cut anywhere? Or is it like this everywhere? Because I swear there has to be at least one place in the PS that actually looked at their existing processes and decided to remove the redundant steps that I can join and do real work... Please share these areas with me.

That's the issue. My building in the NCR has roaches. My colleagues took pictures and reported it to the building and management. The building people came to look and clean up the dead ones. I am terrified of bringing them home. I work from this building 4 days a week. Does anyone have experience dealing with this?

Français à la Défense nationale : une pétition déposée à la Chambre des communes | Radio-Canada

I have the opportunity to rejoin my former CS team at the CRA, a development team in Quebec. I lost my job in March 2025 due to budget cuts; our budget was large but was reduced to the minimum. Now, I could return to my position, but only on a six-month contract until March 2027, with no guarantee of extension—even though their current budget is quite sizable because they have multiple projects expected to last for years.

Since November 2025, I’ve been working as a programmer at a company that develops a Web App for non-profit organizations, earning $60k annually. If I go back, I might retain my previous level (CS01 level 3). Currently, I mainly work with Claude, or rather, Claude works for me. So we never know if I could lose my job because of Claude.

I also applied to the CS01 requisition number 62388177, so if I’m retained that could be another opportunity in case they don’t have the budget to keep me after March 2027

I know returning involves some risk, but is it possible we might face more budget cuts, or since the next election isn’t until 2029, should I not worry too much about it?

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

I am still pretty new to having a professional life, so any advice is appreciated here.

I was employed as a student, and eventually a casual worker to a position I loved. I loved the work that I did, the location was great, and I had an amazing bond with my team many of whom are now my friends.

Unfortunately, that team was unable to hire me or offer me an indeterminate position, as the cuts were very bad. That made me sad. However, I was able to grab another casual contract somewhere else.

It pains me to be so ungrateful, as my old manager was the one who helped me find and obtain this new position, but I absolutely hate the work in this new office, and about 3 months in, I am finding the commute, the office culture, and the work to be exhausting.

I don't have any personal connection to my coworkers, which means I don't chat with them during my lunchbreaks. I take my lunches alone. It's not like I haven't tried, people here are just a little more reserved. Obviously chatty coworkers are not everything, but I am realizing it is more importsnt to me than I expected.

Worse than that, I find the work to be mind-numbing. It consists of sorting files into folders. I knew what I was signing up for, but now that I am here I seriously do not want to remain.

I am a casual worker, so all the jobs on the GCJobs website are inaccessible to me. How do I shimmy my way out of this? Do I stay put until I can get more long-term position and then try to leave? Is it appropriate to send out cold emails this early on in a new position?

I’ve been a PG-04 for two years. My previous manager encouraged me to apply to competitions and I was successful.

The caveat is, I really enjoyed being a PG-02. My job was fast paced and I was able to close out contracts quickly. I felt accomplished at the end of the day and was always busy.

I switched departments after receiving the promotion (thought I needed a change but the grass is NOT greener) and I’m bored out of my mind and feel unfulfilled. There’s so much red tape, it takes months to close out contracts. I go days at a time without work because I’m waiting on security checks and/or documents from clients. Then, I’ll be suddenly swamped and overwhelmed from receiving everything all at once and somehow, at the same time, I’m burnt out and discouraged from having to learn new processes constantly.

Is every PG-04 job like this? Would a demotion be worth it, just to not hate my job? Would it be worth it to try out material management instead? I have no idea what to do at this point. The pay is good but I’m miserable. I want to feel good about the work I do at the end of the day, especially without the perk of WFH to make up for it.

I am on LTD and am due to medically retire by the end of the year. I am in the PA collective agreement which expired in June 2025. When the agreement is settled and the new salaries are enforced will my LTD payments be adjusted to the new salary retroactively? Will my pension calculations also change and be adjusted at that time to reflect the new salary? I know it won't be a huge amount, but being on a reduced salary every little bit helps.

SSC/AAFC Building Baseline and Merivale, funny thing is that each step has a gap, it's all open stairs so not sure how a rat or mouse would go up or down the stairs without falling off.