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s Washington, however.

Overall, the paper says Canada paid out $43.8 billion last year for about 375,000 employees, which includes the RCMP and military personnel.

In terms of number of workers, the public service hit its high water mark last year with about 380,000 total employees.

But the PBO paper notes that the March budget ushered in a new age of restraint, including freezing departmental budgets and calling for the elimination of 19,200 employees over the next three years. Ottawa recently announced it has already shed about 11,000 in the first six months of the program.

When the current austerity measures are completed, the public service will decline to 349,000, if Ottawa sticks with the program.

“The period between 2012-13 and 2014-15 resembles those of the mid-1990s, as both personnel expenses and federal employment (are) reduced,” the report states.

“The PBO expects a significant slowdown in personnel expenses, given assumptions about baseline employment.”

Compensation is expected to continue to grow, although not at the rate of the past 13 years.

The report projects that by 2014-15, the average annual compensation for a federal employee will rise to $129,800, a growth rate of 4.4 per cent per annum. That is a few thousand dollars less than would have been the case without the restraint program.

The PBO complains, however, as it has in the past, that it has not been given sufficient information about how the restraint program is being implemented, or its impact.