Opposition MPs say Rogers job cuts caused by Liberal approval of Shaw takeover

Conservative and New Democrat parliamentarians are attributing recent job losses at Rogers Communications Inc. to the company’s 2023 merger with Shaw — which they believe should never have been approved by the government. “Grave disappointment would summarize how we’re perceiving this,” said Conservative MP Raquel Dancho (Kildonan—St. Paul, Man.) in an interview with The Wire Report. On April 27, a bombshell report from The Globe and Mail revealed the Canadian telecom giant was planning to offer buyout packages to approximately half its 25,000 employees, a smaller total workforce than when the merger was approved three years ago. It would mark the most significant personnel change since the company’s controversial takeover of Shaw Communications was finalized in the face of a legal challenge from the Competition Bureau. As part of the final agreement, Rogers agreed to maintain a presence in western Canada, where Shaw was based, and promised to create 3,000 new jobs in the area by March 2026. According to The Globe, the company had hired an additional 2,600 people by the agreed-upon deadline. At the time, then-industry minister François-Philippe Champagne (Saint-Maurice—Champlain, Que.) said Rogers had promised to maintain the new jobs “for a minimum of 10 years” following the merger’s closure. “These agreements are subject to significant financial damages for non-compliance… up to $1 billion in the case of Rogers,” read a 2023 statement from Champagne. “Should the parties fail to live up to any of their commitments, our government will use every means in our power to enforce the terms on behalf of Canadians.” Various considerations made as part of the Rogers-Shaw agreement, including the promise of western Canada jobs, were part of a “legal, valid and binding obligation” signed by Rogers executives Edward Rogers and Tony Staffieri, as well as ex-deputy minister of industry Simon Kennedy. In a statement to The Wire Report, a spokesperson for Industry Minister Mélanie Joly (Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Que.), who was in the foreign affairs portfolio when the Rogers-Shaw deal was finalized, said the office was “aware” of reports about Rogers offering buyouts to “some of its employees.” “We expect Canadian telecommunications providers to act in a transparent and considerate manner throughout their interactions with their employees,” read the statement. “The federal government’s role is to ensure a fair and competitive marketplace where consumers are protected, and we will not shirk from that duty.” When asked, Joly’s office would not state whether the federal government would pursue legal action against Rogers, should it feel the company’s obligations had not been fulfilled. Rogers also did not respond to questions regarding whether it worried about legal repercussions. Tories, Dippers revisit government’s approach to merger It remains to be seen how many Rogers employees will accept the buyout package, but Dancho, the Conservative industry critic, said recent developments prove the Liberals made a mistake in greenlighting the merger. “Champagne promised Rogers would create 3,000 jobs… any employment gains have been wiped out three-fold,” said Dancho. “Clearly that promise… has been broken.” According to Dancho, it was never clear why the Liberals helped push through this takeover, suggesting the government “did not pursue due diligence when this transaction was undertaken.” “ focus was that such a transaction should only be permitted should it lead to more competition lower prices for Canadians,” she said. “It calls into question the seriousness of this government.” “Canada has very few large carriers, options for Canadians are very limited, coverage is not great, and prices are very high. They approved this transaction with the promise of those things happening, none of it has transpired.” Dancho said Rogers’s decision aligns with the first year of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s (Nepean, Ont.) leadership, which she described as “a lot of promises… but all we see are layoffs.” Carney, who became prime minister in 2025, was serving as the United Nations special envoy for climate action and finance when the Rogers-Shaw deal was negotiated. Instead, Dancho championed Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s (Battle River—Crowfoot, Alta.) approach, which she said would “make Canada the most competitive business environment in the world.” Asked for specific policy solutions in the telecommunications space, Dancho cited the need to “lower the regulatory burden, quicken the approval process and lower the tax burden” to stimulate the economy across all industries. “If the government was aggressively pursuing that objective… we would see less job losses,” she said. Other Conservatives, including former MP Rick Perkins, unearthed promises made during the deal’s initial negotiations. In a social media post, Perkins accused both Champagne and the Rogers brass of “mislead(ing)” Parliament. Champagne’s office, which now occupies the finance file, did not respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, NDP critic Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, B.C.) said Rogers’s decision “calls into question approval of the Rogers-Shaw merger, which further concentrated control in an already oligopolistic market.” “This underscores the need for the federal government – who has jurisdiction over telecommunications – to act in a much more effective way to protect Canadian jobs, technology and privacy,” read a statement from Davies, the NDP’s pointperson for industry and jobs. “So far, we have seen no sign of this from the Liberal government – in fact, their AI cheerleading is actually counter-productive and sets the stage for more painful lay-offs.” BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. — the two telcos that, along with Rogers, account for between 80 and 90 per cent of Canada’s market share — have also administered hundreds of job cuts or employee buyout initiatives over the past year. Rogers’ workforce includes approximately 3,000 people in Quebec, but the Bloc Québécois did not immediately respond to a request from The Wire Report. dlegree@thewirereport.ca

Opposition MPs say Rogers job cuts caused by Liberal approval of Shaw takeover

Regulatory |
By Davis Legree
|April 30, 2026

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Opposition MPs say Rogers job cuts caused by Liberal approval of Shaw takeover

Regulatory | By Davis Legree |April 30, 2026

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By Davis Legree
|April 30, 2026