The Functionary Newsletter | Insider news & Insights

The machinery of government, explained

Cuts. Hiring. Pensions. Reform. The Functionary newsletter covers what’s happening across the federal public service and why it matters. Award-winning journalist Kathryn May tracks what’s changing in government and what comes next.

June 8, 2026

The five-per-cent problem

May 26, 2026

A bigger wage bill

May 15, 2026

The bind

April 22, 2026

The accidental boost

April 16, 2026

Anatomy of a breach

April 2, 2026

About those pensions

March 25, 2026

It’s getting messy

February 25, 2026

Take a seat, please

February 5, 2026

ECs, the deep thinkers

January 23, 2026

The executive cuts

January 16, 2026

Staffing cuts: Uh-oh. This wasn’t the plan

December 19, 2025

“No one batted an eye”

December 19, 2025

RTO: “Different levels of return”

November 28, 2025

Did someone say DM shuffle?

November 10, 2025

The fallout

October 31, 2025

The day of sacrifice

October 24, 2025

Workforce adjustment

October 1, 2025

Government in a hurry

September 15, 2025

The trouble with attrition

August 28, 2025

Yves Giroux’s bombshell report

August 20, 2025

Too many ADMs

July 10, 2025

The summer of urgency

June 18, 2025

Enter Michael Sabia

June 10, 2025

The quiet reform

April 11, 2025

Anxiety. Depression. Burnout

March 26, 2025

Compensation

March 11, 2025

Hello, Mark Carney

February 3, 2025

Departments are scrambling

January 20, 2025

Well, now. Quite the year it’s shaping up to be

November 4, 2024

“It’s stuck in Canada”

October 11, 2024

Relentlessly orthodox and contrarian

October 3, 2024

Remote work is far from dead

September 16, 2024

The lows and the lows of the three-day RTO

August 26, 2024

One year into the job

July 8, 2024

The disruptor in chief is back

June 12, 2024

25 and out: The border guards’ wish list

May 28, 2024

Meanwhile, at the PSAC convention…. a war on Poilievre

May 17, 2024

Public-service ethics and a mea culpa

May 16, 2024

Office blues: PS sees red over RTO

April 23, 2024

Anil Arora’s way with numbers

March 5, 2024

Vintage Jodi: Legendary political operative

February 5, 2024

More big moves and a Service Canada reorganization

January 26, 2024

After the retreats, the new DM jobs begin

December 22, 2023

Reports! Reports! Maybe a little holiday reading for the clerk?

November 29, 2023

Catherine Luelo’s departure. Plus: ArriveCAN jaw-droppers

November 3, 2023

The power of Ian Shugart

October 24, 2023

John Hannaford’s North Star

October 20, 2023

“The government shouldn’t need a crisis”

September 22, 2023

John Hannaford’s first big PS move

September 12, 2023

A new DM at Finance and a huuuge sigh of relief

Big issues. Plain English. Context that matters.