The Liberal government needs to make the public service an attractive place to work if it wants to recruit industry leaders.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s pre-Christmas shuffle of top bureaucrats was one of the biggest in recent memory. And it was likely a prelude to more such changes in the senior ranks of the public service as his Liberal government moves to speed up the otherwise glacial pace of decision-making in Ottawa.

Unfortunately, it will take a lot more than moving lifelong bureaucrats into new jobs to fix the public service.

The Dec. 19 shuffle of 12 senior officials – including the appointment of new deputy ministers in the key departments of Finance, Defence and Natural Resources – was the first major public-service overhaul since Michael Sabia became Ottawa’s top bureaucrat in mid-2025.

Unlike his predecessors, Mr. Sabia took over as Clerk of the Privy Council with decades of business experience under his belt. That makes him an oddity in Ottawa, where most senior bureaucrats have never worked outside the capital, much less outside government.

Opinion: Michael Sabia prepares to shake up Canada’s public service

Therein lies the problem that Mr. Carney and Mr. Sabia face as they try to inject new dynamism into a public service that has long operated according to the principles of risk minimization and strict adherence to procedure. The........

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