The report recommends cutting the public service across the board, in some cases, bringing staff levels back to 1998 levels.
Forty per cent of the country's public service live in Canberra, and the CPSU says its economy is particularly vulnerable to job cuts.
"This town could be quite decimated," Beth Vincent-Pietch from the Community and Public Service Union says.
"To the same degree as Geelong has been impacted [by the loss of jobs]," she says.
"Canberra is no different. As a region, we would be heavily impacted."
ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher says what is different, is the lack of sympathy for public servants who lose their jobs, compared with other industries.
"For some reason, we don't think they're real people," Ms Gallagher says.
"That's why I've approached the Commonwealth and said, treat us like you would any other citizenry."
But business leaders say Canberra's economy is more robust and resilient than ever before.
"The private sector has made in-roads into the city," CEO of the ACT Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Andrew Blythe, says.
"We're a much stronger and diverse economy [than in the late 90s]," Mr Blythe says.
The full extent of possible job cuts will be revealed in the budget on Tuesday.
