Almost 4,000 federal public servants apply for early retirement program

OTTAWA — Thousands of federal public servants have applied for early retirement since the program was launched late last month.

Mohammad Kamal, spokesperson for the Office of the President of the Treasury Board, says 3,700 federal workers have applied for the program.

The program, which was announced in the fall, is part of the government’s efforts to reduce the number of public servants and allows some federal workers to retire early without a pension penalty.

About 68,000 public servants have received notice that they may be eligible for the program.