Canadians paying 80% more on bureaucracy compared to a decade ago: CTF

Government bureaucracy has become increasingly expensive for Canadians, rising by an additional $6 billion last year alone, according to Public Accounts disclosures.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Government bureaucracy has become increasingly expensive for Canadians, rising by an additional $6 billion last year alone, according to Public Accounts disclosures.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) first obtained the disclosures and has been calling on the Liberals to “shrink” their bureaucracy for some time.

“The Public Accounts show the cost of the federal bureaucracy is out of control,” said CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano. “Tinkering around the edges won’t cut it, Carney needs to take urgent action to shrink the bloated federal bureaucracy.”

According to the Public Accounts, federal bureaucracy reached a total of $71.4 billion in 2024-25 before increasing by more than 9 per cent last year, a hike of $6 billion.

Meanwhile, federal bureaucracy cost taxpayers only $39.6 billion in 2015-16, meaning its bill to Canadians has ballooned by 80 per cent over the last decade.

The additional costs stem partly from the Liberals adding extra bureaucrats to the payroll, hiring roughly 99,000 new people between 2015-16 and 2024-25.

However, the new hires may not have resulted in better service, as half of Canadians said that federal services are worse now than in 2016, according to a Leger survey from earlier this year.

Only 11 per cent believed federal services had improved, while 60 per cent of decided respondents said service quality had declined.

Furthermore, a majority of Canadians said they want the federal government to shrink its bureaucracy, with 54 per cent responding that the size and cost of the federal bureaucracy must be reduced.

However, in addition to the size of bureaucracy increasing, so has the cost of consultants, contractors, and outsourcing.

Last year, the government spent $23.1 billion on “professional and special services,” marking an 11 per cent increase from the previous year.

The Liberals have now spent more than double on professional and special services since 2015-16.

“Taxpayers should not be paying way more for in-house government bureaucrats and way more for outside help. Mere promises to find minor savings in the federal bureaucracy won’t fix Canada’s finances,” Terrazzano said.

“Taxpayers need Carney to take urgent action and significantly cut the number of bureaucrats now.”