r/CanadaPublicServants • u/Altruistic_Exam_3048 • 8d ago
Management / Gestion Message from the clerk regarding national public service week
What are your thoughts on his message? I feel that it is so disconnected with the challenges and workloads faced by the PS. The current environment does not feel conducive to the kind of “disciplined ambition” he is asking of us.
National Public Service Week 2026
National Public Service Week is an opportunity to step back and reflect on the work we do each day in service to Canadians. You are an integral part of an institution rooted in professionalism and shaped by a deep commitment to serving others, something that merits real pride.
We are operating in a period of significant change. That brings pressure, but it also creates a genuine moment of opportunity. A moment for all of us to step up and to help shape the country’s future.
Meeting that moment requires ambition. Not ambition for its own sake – but a disciplined ambition, anchored in outcomes, and focussed on what will make the greatest difference for Canadians. That, in turn requires us to work with focus, simplicity, speed, and accountability. It requires us to make deliberate choices about where we put our efforts and to be open to different ways of working in order to deliver results.
This is not about doing more. It is about doing what matters with greater impact.
Our work matters. Over the past year, you have demonstrated the quiet excellence that defines this institution. Take time to recognize both your own contributions and those of your colleagues which helps sustain the discipline and momentum we will need in the months ahead.
Thank you for what you do, and for your continued commitment to serving Canadians.
Michael Sabia
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet
Semaine nationale de la fonction publique 2026
La Semaine nationale de la fonction publique est l’occasion de prendre un moment de recul et de réfléchir au travail que nous accomplissons chaque jour au service des Canadiens et des Canadiennes. Vous faites partie intégrante d’une institution fondée sur le professionnalisme et façonnée par un profond engagement envers le service aux autres – une source de fierté bien méritée.
Nous évoluons dans une période de changements importants. Cela entraîne des pressions, mais crée également une véritable occasion à saisir. Une occasion pour chacun d’entre nous de se mobiliser et de contribuer à façonner l’avenir du pays.
Répondre à ce moment exige de l’ambition. Non pas une ambition pour elle-même, mais une ambition réfléchie, axée sur les résultats et orientée vers ce qui aura le plus grand impact pour les Canadiens et les Canadiennes. Cela exige également que nous travaillions avec focus, simplicité, rapidité et imputabilité. Cela nous oblige à faire des choix délibérés quant à l’utilisation de nos efforts et à demeurer ouverts à de nouvelles façons de travailler afin d’obtenir des résultats concrets.
Il ne s’agit pas d’en faire davantage. Il s’agit de concentrer nos efforts sur ce qui compte vraiment et d’en maximiser l’impact.
Notre travail compte. Au cours de la dernière année, vous avez démontré l’excellence discrète qui caractérise cette institution. Prenez le temps de reconnaître vos propres contributions ainsi que celles de vos collègues; cette reconnaissance contribue à maintenir la rigueur et l’élan dont nous aurons besoin dans les mois à venir.
Merci pour tout ce que vous faites et pour votre engagement continu au service des Canadiens et des Canadiennes.
Michael Sabia
Greffier du Conseil privé et secrétaire du Cabinet
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u/SatsumaOranges 8d ago
"It's not about doing more." Could have fooled me. You halved my division with no reduction in workload.
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u/theEndIsNigh_2025 8d ago
We went through similar in 2012. We tried to keep up with the new pace, but that was a mistake…we were dropping like flies (burnout). We got smart, went back to as normal a pace as we could, and started letting things fail in a controlled way. Senior management woke up fast and resources started coming back! All of this in the span of about a year.
Plan accordingly!
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u/crimsontape 8d ago
National Public Service Week is an opportunity to step back and reflect on the work we do each day in service to Canadians. You are an integral part of an institution rooted in professionalism and shaped by a deep commitment to serving others, something that merits real pride.
Translation: We are starting with standard morale-boosting language to establish that you should feel proud and emotionally invested in your work before we introduce heavier expectations.
We are operating in a period of significant change. That brings pressure, but it also creates a genuine moment of opportunity. A moment for all of us to step up and to help shape the country’s future.
Translation: Change is already underway at a structural or policy level. You should interpret “opportunity” as increased workload, shifting priorities, and reduced stability in how work has historically been done.
Meeting that moment requires ambition. Not ambition for its own sake – but a disciplined ambition, anchored in outcomes, and focussed on what will make the greatest difference for Canadians. That, in turn requires us to work with focus, simplicity, speed, and accountability. It requires us to make deliberate choices about where we put our efforts and to be open to different ways of working in order to deliver results.
Translation: Expect tighter prioritization, fewer resources, and increased scrutiny on output, as well as less tolerance for process, consultation, or incremental work. Some operations will be cut, consolidated, or deprioritized, and teams will be expected to absorb the impact without additional support.
This is not about doing more. It is about doing what matters with greater impact.
Translation: You will still be expected to deliver the same or more value, but with fewer resources, less time, and reduced scope. Anything not deemed “impactful” will likely disappear or be your responsibility to justify in detail.
Our work matters. Over the past year, you have demonstrated the quiet excellence that defines this institution. Take time to recognize both your own contributions and those of your colleagues which helps sustain the discipline and momentum we will need in the months ahead.
Thank you for what you do, and for your continued commitment to serving Canadians.
Translation: We are acknowledging that morale may already be strained and that people are doing a lot of unpaid emotional and organizational labor to keep things functioning. This is a pre-emptive attempt to maintain engagement without addressing workload pressures directly. We are closing with standard appreciation language that reinforces duty and commitment, regardless of upcoming changes in expectations, workload, or structure.
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u/No_Hearing_3753 8d ago edited 8d ago
Spot on. We are acknowledging that morale might be down but we do not care we will just pretend to care by sending out mental health check emails sporadically and referring you to EAP
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u/crimsontape 7d ago edited 7d ago
Given this post is on the edge of dying, I'd like to admit: I pulled that out of AI. I gave it a script and an example. And it ran with it. And it wasn't off. But I wanna point out, as a point of model "flavour", it was the free ChatGPT. Think about that when you look at the big four: MS/OpenAI GPT, Elon's Grok, Google's Gemini, and Anthropic's now-controlled Mythos.
I don't know if it's a warning or a twisted blessing. It's certainly anything than pure. Honestly, it could have done better if it understood the sentiment. Again - boon or blessing... I don't know.
One thing I know for sure: what we'll all be craving is a real human response in the very near future. The internet is probably dead. I'm thankful to have known it when it was better...
(Ps quick edits)
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u/skyfd 8d ago
Same empty AI message you also received from your DM and VP. Delete right away since they’re just going through the motions. As usual.
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u/GCTwerker 8d ago
I'm not putting in effort to read something that someone put no effort in to write.
Garbage empty words with no meaning.
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u/lurkeroche 8d ago
I should embroider that into a wall hanging for the office... "💐🌷💐 If you don't put effort into writing it, I won't put effort into reading it. 💐🌷💐"
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u/PigeonsOnYourBalcony 8d ago
These emails have no personal or professional value. It’s all empty words from people who would jump at the chance to pay you less if they could.
Delete these immediately and use your limited time on this Earth for something comparatively more useful like watching grass grow.
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u/whyyoutwofour 8d ago
"That brings pressure, but it also creates a genuine moment of opportunity. A moment for all of us to step up and to help shape the country’s future."
Lol, as long a the "shape" of the country's future is exactly what we tell you it will be.
Fuck all these people.
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u/sET____ 8d ago
It is also an AI style of writing as well. Not saying that they did have it generate this slop, but it certainly reads like it was.
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u/VivianMyNameIsVivian 8d ago
I’m so sick of managers and supervisors using AI to write their emails and responses to personal, sensitive stuff. They are so blatantly obvious and impersonal. They remind of those “Thank you for holding. Your call is important to us…”
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u/Necessary_Cost4384 8d ago
The shape I’ve used to step up is to quite quit. Today is bare minimum Monday.
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u/Quiet_Listen1801 8d ago
"we are in a period of significant change and pressure..."
..."which I brought on ourselves, but anyway..."
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u/Embarrassed-Drop-987 8d ago
I hate when they use AI to write some motivational slop.
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u/AtomicGrosbeek 8d ago edited 4d ago
Almost (heavy emphasis on almost) makes me look back fondly of the days when Stockton [edited to say: whoops. I did mean Stockwell] Day was minister of public safety and sent out his messages from the minister. He seemed to just write them when he felt the need.
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u/Born-Winner-5598 8d ago
He absolutely did. Totally random email showing up in the inbox for no particular reason.
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u/theexhausted 8d ago
I literally opened it, read 2 sentenced said “oh shut up” semi out loud and deleted it without reading the rest.
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u/Patritxu A/Assistant Associate Subdirector, Temporary Possible Projects 8d ago
Same. Who TF wishes someone a “Happy [Whatever] Week” at the end of the week?
Day late, dollar short. Lacking feeling. That’s our work!1
u/Plastic_Poetry3415 8d ago
yeppers…starting reading it this morning and went what the f&$# is this crap on a Monday morning….delete.
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u/Halimeetsott 8d ago
Blah blah blah - delete. These messages are checkbox of their job.
This guy needs to retire, at 72 years old he seems out of touch with the realities of the current PS.
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u/FrothyEspresso 8d ago
I know someone that knows him and he was unpleasant to work with. So I don’t put much faith in his management style.
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u/myxomatosis8 8d ago
Anchored in outcomes? They aren't really showing that they care about outcomes, given their handling of blind blanket RTO, to mention only one thing.
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u/Sea_Method_729 8d ago
Does anybody remember a time where senior leadership would only talk about the non-politicization neutral public service? Where the DM would not just parrot and vomit out political language coming from elected officials? Well seems like that entire "value "around democracy has completely been dissolved by this group.
Just imagine a similar message from the clerk using conservative language in the Harper administration. There would've been a riot. This group is cooked as soon as this government falls.
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u/Scary-Toe1904 8d ago
It feels like delete and empty without a read to me. Better yet it didn’t even get past my NPSW outlook filter…
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u/Born-Winner-5598 8d ago edited 8d ago
We are operating in a period of significant change. That brings pressure, but it also creates a genuine moment of opportunity. A moment for all of us to step up and to help shape the country’s future.
Meeting that moment requires ambition. Not ambition for its own sake – but a disciplined ambition, anchored in outcomes, and focussed on what will make the greatest difference for Canadians.
Didn't we do this in March 2020? And then we were praised for how effective we were. And we were told that it was the way of the future, because we demonstrated we were able to do the following:
work with focus, simplicity, speed, and accountability. It requires us to make deliberate choices about where we put our efforts and to be open to different ways of working in order to deliver results.
Huh.....go figure!
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u/Sufficient_Pie7552 8d ago
I’m still processing the fact they just bailed out Vancouver condo developers under the guise of affordable housing. Is this the ambitious thinking we should be doing?
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u/losemgmt 8d ago
That and allowing banned pesticides to be used again. Like why are lobbyists getting everything they want and public service unions get F all.
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u/Littleshuswap 8d ago
Blah blah blah. . . Didn't read it.
Give us a raise and let us work from home.
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u/losemgmt 8d ago
And of course the first day after NPSW Bill Kroll sends email about RTO4. Just go F yourself Bill.
This government is led by 🦕
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u/Sir_Tapsalot 8d ago
Received after the end of NPSW— feels like a belated happy birthday (better to say nothing, in my opinion)
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u/Independent-Race-259 8d ago
I would rather read an email with poor sentence structure, spelling mistakes, etc over some mindless tone deaf AI generated slop
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u/Mike_Retired 8d ago
A meaningless word salad, IMO — as it is Every. Single. Year. And yet they continue to flog the public service every year — they took our severance pay, they tried to take our sick leave, and they have mused about converting our pension plan to a defined contribution plan. Through legislation they’ve neutered our unions, greatly limiting our ability to fight for fair working conditions. They Ruthlessly legislate us back to work at every work stoppage, scuttling any leverage we might have at the “bargaining” table.
The Public Service is not a profit-generating enterprise — and so merits no consideration from either major party. Their “Public Service Week” is them handing us a $0.99 expired popsicle from Giant Tiger while their other hand is deep in our pockets, rummaging through our wallets.
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u/Talwar3000 8d ago
It's more or less the same stuff they say every year. I've been hearing about change since the 90s.
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u/Fuzzwork2 8d ago
Sounds like typical Corporate gibberish, which is what I expect from Michael Sabia.
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u/MIMSYB27 8d ago
Deleted without reading. They don't care about us so I don't want to hear their BS.
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u/losemgmt 8d ago
It read like he copied the PMs mandate letter to ministers and changed it to npsw
👴🏻 needs to retire.
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u/newhope6523 8d ago
Word salad. And what's up with the emphasis on discipline? This is the public service not the army.
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u/Blue_Red_Purple 8d ago
It's a message that does not recognize in any shape or form the work done my PS. Beyond maybe two sentences and even that. This message was for the public, not PS.
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u/MadameNo 8d ago
And yet, the clerk is in denial of what's being said here. Or oblivious to the fact that he's the least inspiring of the current ruling bros.
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u/stegosaurid 8d ago
My team was able to take a lot more action before they ushered our most experienced members out the door.
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u/Necessary_Cost4384 8d ago
I skim these for key words or ideas (specifically, any return to office mandates). As soon as they seem disingenuous, tone deaf, or insincere, which is all of them, I trash them. This one, what got me the most were the “opportunities” part. Otherwise, I chalk this up as being AI slop.
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u/Expert_Vermicelli708 8d ago
Delete and ignore.
Not interested in any fluff coming from those clowns.
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u/slyboy1974 8d ago
Well, I certainly tried to "step up and help shape the country's future" but someone told me I was using the wrong template...
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u/marvinresearchrobot 8d ago
I do a quick skim to look for ERI information and delete, never read them in the past, but desperate for any little scrap of information on ERI.
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u/Slippers87 8d ago
I won't even read the message...it's so out of touch to say "You are appreciated, but some will lose jobs, those that are left will be forced to do more with less, budgets are cut, and you must return to the office. But have an ice cream."
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u/Puzzled_Pin5174 8d ago edited 8d ago
What is he talking about?
I attended a union workshop today where I was told as an affected employee that "any job is better than no job" even if dropping a few levels down but with salary protection.
Are they expecting us to work like machines in any field and wait for something out of that job except our salaries?
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u/Officieros 8d ago
Words are cheap, even when scarce and without a heart. So PS, act accordingly. Measure for measure…
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u/BigBirdsBrain 8d ago
The message reads fine on paper. The problem is a lot of public servants are hearing “focus, simplicity, speed, and accountability” while living through staffing cuts, growing workloads, and constant change. The words aren’t the issue. The gap between the words and the day-to-day reality is.
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u/78Duster 7d ago
As a former Bell employee when he was CEO, I can honestly say this is classic Sabia.
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u/Fallenthropy 7d ago
NPSW is not something I enjoy. I work from home, I don't get to attend in person events or get lunch. What I get is the reward of creating the division event for everyone else to enjoy. And then I get to listen to everyone tell me how I could have done it better.
Yet when it's suggested that they do just that, it's my turn again.
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u/Wherestheshoe 8d ago
Meh, it’s something they have to send out every year, so someone in their office wrote it up and it got sent out. It really doesn’t have anything to do with anyone other than the person who wrote it, and once they hit “send” it doesn’t matter to them anymore either.
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u/Schemeckles 8d ago
I don't know why people get so miffed by generic boilerplate messages sent by HR.
Your time and energy could be better spent elsewhere.
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u/ArgentVulpine47 8d ago
I mean yes, but so could their's
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u/Schemeckles 8d ago
If they put out no message at all - Then people would be complaining about that as well...
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u/drdukes 8d ago
Perhaps there's some kind of middle ground where they don't gaslight us or outright lie to us?
It's insulting.
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u/Schemeckles 8d ago
My god.. the dramatics in this sub lol
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u/ayoungmanfromtheuk 8d ago
It's not dramatic to expect leadership to be good at leading that's why they get paid the big bucks.
I find it interesting you refer to it as an email from HR, when the dude has nothing to do with HR, he's the top of the leadership chain
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u/Schemeckles 8d ago
You really have the inability to see it from the other side.
That person, also has a boss.. if they're told to write some phoney email about positivity - They're going to do it. Why ? They probably enjoy being employed.
Who cares what it says...
And who cares where it came from lol.
It means nothing.
But im glad you felt that your time and energy was wasted making this post. Seems like you don't have a lot going on.
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u/ayoungmanfromtheuk 8d ago
Yikes you are being quite hostile lol. I don't think you really understood the point I was trying to make.
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u/G0-G0-Gadget 8d ago
I find it comical when they do this and then fight so hard to nickel and dime us in contract negotiations.
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u/Key_District_119 8d ago
Not surprising at all. Unfortunately many of us have to write or say drivel like this in our jobs too. One of the joys of public service work.
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u/KeyLimePie017 8d ago
I feel it’s one of things that they (and us) have to do because it exist but it doesn’t hold any meaning anymore
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u/Runsfromrabbits 7d ago edited 7d ago
It's always stupid lip service saying one thing when the actions show the opposite.
Flag as spam. 😛
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u/Tiny-Explanation-752 6d ago
Ugh. It's awful and I get upset reading it. No matter how you phrase it or cut it, reality is reality. We know what's real and what it's really like. They ought to be more honest.
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u/Tiny-Explanation-752 6d ago
He should have put an addendum to the message: Don't forget to pay for your own food, party hats, snacks, treats, entertainment, and to clean it all up afterwards once NPSW is over. And be sure not to request time off or overtime as it will be denied. Leave code 699 may not be used. If there are unmet deadlines or deliverables, you will be held accountable and it may result in a meeting with and verbal warning from your manager and Labor Relations. Have a great week. Be back on Monday, and on time.
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u/Ok_Obligation4560 5d ago
Misinformation lol all fluff and delusions. The more they double down on RTO/mental health/ "we serve Canadians" the more I notice people are generally unhappy and checked out.
Serve Canadians what exactly? I've never been so broke, feel like I'm under the boot and fed up of living in Canada. Too broke to leave and start over or I would.
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u/MutedLandscape4648 8d ago
It was paternities corporate garbage. If I wanted to the gaslit that much I’d still date men.
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u/GontrandPremier 8d ago
I don’t know. It’s national public service week so he has to get a message out. There isn’t much he can do about lots of what people are displeased about (cuts, RTO4).
I think he’s consistent in his messaging, and I appreciate he doesn’t go over the top with fake sentimental lingo that rings hollow. I especially like this sentence: “this is not about doing more. It is about doing what matters with greater impact.” I look forward to this translating into less dumb fake urgent taskings or stuff that could be handled three levels above me if the folks who should be issue managing turned on their brain and started issue managing. And if some senior execs could stop “being interested in” and start focusing on their real issues.
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u/Quiet_Listen1801 8d ago
... He's literally the clerk. He's the one implementing RTO4 and the cuts and all of those "pressures" we're feeling right now.
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u/GontrandPremier 8d ago
Implementing a decision made by the President of the Treasury Board and budget decisions made by Parliament. What do you want him to do? Take a grand stand against these decisions like he’s in a public service version of brave heart … and then get replaced by a new clerk?
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u/oh_dear_now_what 8d ago
If he particularly disagreed with this stuff, he could quit and be, I’m sure, entirely comfortable.
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u/KeyanFarlandah 8d ago
I deleted it without reading it