Northeast Ont. sees federal job cuts, office closures

There are reports of dozens of federal civil servants losing their jobs in the Northeast, but the exact numbers are hazy.

The government has confirmed 15 jobs will be cut at FedNor, a regional development agency.

But the Public Service Alliance of Canada said there are entire federal offices in Northern Ontario that are closing.

Those include:

• Citizenship and Immigration offices in Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie.
• Health Canada’s field office in Sudbury.
• Ministry of Agriculture beef research station in Kapuskasing.

Debbie St. Germaine, a spokesperson with the Public Service Alliance, said it hard to gather concrete information.

"We're not sure of the numbers, there's been a whole lot of secrecy with that," St. Germaine said.

"And of course, respecting the members that are losing their jobs, you know, sometimes we're just hearing from the members directly and that's really difficult. It's hard to tell at this point."

St. Germaine said she's also heard of cutbacks coming to the Veteran Affairs office in North Bay and the Border Services Agency in Sault Ste. Marie.