Public affairs and public relations professionals working within the federal government can leverage Canada’s 2024 Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) results to strategically guide their efforts. The PSES offers critical insights into employees’ perceptions, which directly impacts the external reputation of the government as a service provider and employer.
The good: Pride and satisfaction
A vast majority of Canadian federal public servants – 82% – express a sense of pride in their work, and 77% are satisfied with their job. Another 67% feel valued at work, signalling a significant pool of ambassadors to tap into.
This a fertile ground for employee engagement and shaping a positive public image of the federal public service. It is especially important in a context where public trust in government in Western economies has been eroding.
The bad: Stress, lack of confidence in senior management, and deteriorating trends
When looking at trends, the statistics on pride, job satisfaction, and feeling valued show a darker side: 86% fell proud in 2020, 83% liked their job, and 71% fell valued, higher than levels observed in 2024.
Not to mention that for 67% who feel valued, 1 in 5 (20%) don’t feel valued at work, up from 16% in 2020.
Then there is the stress: 1 in 4 (24%) federal public servants experience stress at work. Among the sources of stress, 2 of 3 (67%) report a lack of clear expectations.
It’s worth mentioning that the survey was conducted in 4Q 2024, before the tariff war and renewed efforts to increase the efficiency of the public sector.
Senior management perception: Weak spots
When it comes to senior management perceptions, there are areas of concern:
- Just 55% have confidence in senior management vs. 64% in 2022 and 68% in 2020. These low percentages also mean that 28% don’t have confidence in senior management, up from 21% in 2022 and 17% in 2020.
- 34% of federal public servants say senior management doesn’t make effective and timely decisions and less than half (47%) think the opposite.
- 34% also say essential information doesn’t flow effectively from senior management to staff, a 10-point increase from 24% in 2020. Less than half, or 49%, say information flows effectively from senior management, a 12-point decline.
- 1 in 5 (20%) say senior managers don’t lead by example in ethical behaviour compared to 15% in 2022 and 13% in 2020. Conversely, 64% say senior management leads by example, down from 73% in 2020.
The Ugly: Unreliable technology
We’re 2025 and there is a growing urge to optimize government operations and integrate AI in workflows.
Against this backdrop, one finding is troubling: 56% of federal public servants say unreliable technology impacts the quality of their work: always (8%), often (16%), sometimes (32%).
While innovation is a clear advantage, 1 in 5 (21%) federal employees report they don’t feel they would be supported if they proposed a new idea, up from 17% in 2022 and 14% in 2020.
A few communications takeaways
- Leadership narrative is fragile. When only half of employees believe leaders make effective and timely decisions and just 55% have confidence in senior management, agencies and departments’ reputation is already on the line internally. And it’s only a matter of time for poor internal perception to become an external liability.
- Evaluating Communication Effectiveness: Whether information flows effectively from senior management to staff is a fundamental measure of internal communication success. The data allows public affairs and public relations teams to evaluate the effectiveness of current communication channels and strategies and adjust them as needed to ensure employees feel informed and connected.
- Technology pain is a reputational pain. Issues such as those with the Phoenix pay system underscore this connection.
What private-sector communicators can borrow
- Benchmark internal comms health. If Canada’s largest bureaucracy struggles with vertical information flow (34 % say it doesn’t flow well), chances are your matrixed corporation does too.
- Invest in manager line-of-sight. Middle managers are the trust fulcrum; equip them with narrative toolkits and behavioural nudges.
- Make tech reliability part of brand voice. Employees—and clients—rarely separate operational UX from reputation.
Bottom line
The 2024 PSES reminds us that internal perception is external reality in waiting. Whether you are drafting a minister’s media lines, managing stakeholder coalitions, or guiding a bank through policy change, turn these findings into actions that speak to your reality.
About the survey
- Statistics Canada in partnership with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
- Conducted from October 28 to December 31, 2024
- 93 federal departments and agencies
- Close to 187,000 respondents
