As a Career Counsellor and Registered Counselling Therapist, I’ve supported many professionals in federal and provincial government roles who arrive feeling overwhelmed, under-motivated, and emotionally drained. These are symptoms of working in systems where autonomy and purpose tends to be out of reach.
You might expect high stress to be more common in the private sector, where fast-paced environments and bottom-line pressures rule. But many public sector workers face significant occupational strain, not from speed, but from high demands paired with low agency/control over their jobs. A 2023 survey by the Global Government Forum found that over half of Canadian federal employees reported significant workplace stress, largely driven by bureaucracy, slow change, and limited decision-making power. Statistics Canada echoed these findings, pointing to unclear roles and reduced autonomy as major contributors to workplace dissatisfaction and fatigue.
What makes this strain especially tough is that it’s often values-based. Many government workers are mission-driven because they want to serve and create change (sometimes with cushy benefits). But when they can’t always influence how things are done, it leads to disconnection.
In our counselling work together, we focus on reconnecting to values, building strategies to navigate these types of systems, and identifying new career directions if needed.
Canada Career Counselling offers 15-minute phone consultations for both career counselling and counselling therapy in Halifax, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and other provinces and territories across Canada. Whether you’re considering a change or simply need support where you are, you don’t have to figure it out alone.
