Canadian Media Guild leaders across the country are preparing to help members deal with the new round of layoffs announced today.

A total of 657 positions will be lost over the next two years as the public broadcaster works to deal with a $130 million revenue shortfall from the loss of NHL hockey and government budget cuts. 318 of those affected are Guild members. The new cuts will affect all areas at CBC with sports, news and sales taking a big hit.

Toronto will be hit with two-thirds of the job losses outside of Quebec. CBC Sports will lose half of its workforce while sales will lose one third.

The department dealing with the biggest change is CBC Sports. About half the people who work directly on sports content will be laid off. At the same time, 80 per cent of CBC’s hockey production staff will work for Rogers going forward but will remain CBC employees.

Regional radio and music programming are also affected.

“We know CBC programming has been under enormous pressure for years with successive cuts, but today’s announcement marks the end of an era for CBC Sports,” says Marc-Philippe Laurin, President of the CBC Branch of the CMG.

The layoff process begins almost immediately. Redundancy notices will be handed out by the end of April, and most layoffs will be implemented in August. The Guild will make sure that members’ rights are respected through this process and that your questions are answered. Please read our FAQ here and contact us for any questions:info@cmg.ca or 416-591-5333 or 1-800-465-4149.

“The Guild will work to ensure that there is an avenue for Canadians to hold discussions that are focused on rebuilding CBC,” Laurin said.