Proposed early retirement incentive program

Dear colleagues,

Budget 2025: Canada Strong announced the Government of Canada’s intent to offer a voluntary Early Retirement Incentive program through the federal public service pension plan. This incentive would help manage workforce reductions to the greatest extent possible through attrition and voluntary departures. It is important to note that the Early Retirement Incentive program is a voluntary initiative offered to eligible employees and is not related to Work Force Adjustment (see Appendix K of the collective agreement).

Next week, employees who meet the initial eligibility criteria based on their age, pensionable service and years of employment will be informed that they may be eligible to apply to participate in the Early Retirement Incentive Program. Eligible employees from Government of Canada departments and agencies, including Parks Canada, will receive the communication directly in the pension portal, with an email notifying them of this new message. Please note, however, that if you do not meet the eligibility criteria, you will not receive any communication from the Pension Centre.

Further details about the program’s requirements, including final eligibility parameters, timelines and how to express interest, will be communicated to eligible employees and made available on Canada.ca/pension-benefits. Should you have any questions or require further clarification, please contact the Pension Centre directly.

I would like to highlight that a communication from the Pension Centre simply indicates that you may be eligible to access the early retirement incentive if you wish — it does not mean that your position has been affected or that it is at risk. To be very clear, no decisions have yet been made regarding any changes to the Parks Canada workforce, as we are awaiting clarification on the details of our funding. We will continue to share information with you as soon as it becomes available.

Best regards,

Rawan El-Komos

Vice President, Human Resources and Employee Wellness

Reminder to managers: In keeping with Parks Canada's procedures for communications with employees, managers are responsible for ensuring all employees under their responsibility receive the information intended for them. It is important that you find a means to transmit this message and, if any, the attachment(s) to employees without access to Parks Canada e-mail or the intranet, e.g. by posting it, circulating a paper copy or by any other appropriate means.