Federal programs aimed at addressing climate change are facing significant cuts as the government shifts to artificial intelligence (AI) and slashes thousands of jobs, according to recently released departmental plans.

In its latest budget, Prime Minister Mark Carney's government said it would partly rely on AI to eliminate 40,000 public service jobs

When you cut jobs, the workload doesn't go down. How are you going to continue maintaining a quality service to Canadians?" asked Alex Silas, PSAC's national executive vice-president.

"That's the big piece that's missing out of this, and the big piece that the Carney government's not taking into consideration."

Silas also raised concerns about a "lack of transparency" by the government, saying the departmental plans are short on detail about how services will be delivered in the wake of significant job cuts.

For example, Employment and Social Development Canada will have 15,629 fewer public servants in 2029 than it had last year.

The department says it will be "leveraging artificial intelligence to automate internal processes and streamline operations," and plans to merge program delivery "to lower administrative costs."