Vancouver-based nationwide telecom firm Telus is providing extra buyouts to lots of of workers.
Per The Canadian Press (through CityNews), the telco provided buyout packages to nearly 700 employees throughout the nation, together with over 500 members of the United Steelworkers (USW) union. The union’s Native 1944 represents round 4,000 Telus workers, and advised The Canadian Press that the buyout gives impression employees in Telus’ Enterprise Options operations throughout B.C., Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec.
Staff got till Jan. 21 to determine on the gives.
Telus spokeswoman Sacha Gudmundsson advised The Canadian Press that the buyouts have been a part of a voluntary separation program carried out in 2025 on account of fast change within the trade and “rising buyer demand for self-serve options.”
Gudmundsson additionally mentioned the buyout packages “exceed the necessities of the Canada Labour Code” and mentioned that it was a “customary working follow” of the provider to supply voluntary packages.
Nevertheless, the USW warned in a press release that it could harm communities and the economic system.
“Additional workforce reductions at Telus will harm communities and the Canadian economic system, and can solely exacerbate Canadians’ rising dissatisfaction with the service they’re receiving from telecommunications firms,” mentioned USW Native 1944 president Michael Phillips within the launch.
The buyouts come at a time when Canadians are more and more pissed off with telecom firms, that are chopping jobs, growing costs, and making service worse. Telus offered buyouts to 700 employees in February 2025, and the corporate laid off 6,000 workers in 2023. In 2024, the corporate had a scuffle with Native 1944 when it closed an Ontario call centre and told about 150 employees to relocate to Montreal or be laid off.
Furthermore, executives from each Telus and Bell mentioned final 12 months that the companies would look to raise their average revenue per user (ARPU) by raising prices in 2026. Notably, each firms have had ARPU hovering across the $57-$58 mark for years. Even Statistics Canada warned that wireless prices could go up in 2026 after noting value will increase within the tail-end of 2025.
We’ve additionally seen some Canadian carriers lower customer support roles, akin to name centre jobs, in favour of self-serve choices and automatic techniques powered by AI chatbots, leading to tons of Canadians having problem contacting their carriers when they should resolve points. Rogers is arguably the chief on this push, with the company cancelling a call centre contract that saw nearly 1,000 Canadians lose their jobs. Workers referred to as the transfer a shift to AI-based assist techniques. Since then, we’ve famous a large uptick in complaints from individuals unable to contact people at Rogers — the Rogers Reddit page is full of posts from people unable to contact support.
Whereas it’s not clear if Telus goes the same route with AI-powered assist techniques, the a number of buyouts and layoffs over the previous couple of years have had an impression on Telus’ operations, with the provider receiving the most complaints in the 2025 mid-year report from the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services (CCTS).
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