Treasury Board’s DEI spending rose over 10,000% since 2016: documents
Spending on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat has grown from just over $110,000 in 2016 to nearly $12 million last year.
Spending on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat has grown from just over $110,000 in 2016 to nearly $12 million last year, according to newly released federal records tabled in the House of Commons.
The documents, obtained by Conservative MP Vincent Neil Ho through a written question, show a cumulative $58.7 million in DEI-related expenditures at the Secretariat between 2016 and 2025. That includes salary costs, consultant contracts, training programs, workshops and travel.
According to the figures, DEI spending increased by 10,152 per cent over the decade, with annual expenditures rising from $110,764 in 2016 to $11.9 million in 2023. As of this year, the total spending is $5.7 million to date.
The department also reported a steep expansion in the number of employees assigned to DEI files. The Treasury Board now lists 95.7 full-time equivalent positions supporting equity and inclusion work, including a Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, who earns between $202,900 and $238,000 annually, according to the attached classification.
Other positions outlined in the documents include a Director of Anti-Racism, Diversity and Inclusion — a role classified at the director-level executive pay band — as well as a Manager of GBA+ Integration and Advisory Services. The records also list positions such as Senior Advisor for Reconciliation and Anti-Racism and Advisor for Accessibility and Barrier Reduction.
The documents provide detailed line-item spending breakdowns for the Treasury Board’s DEI-related activities between 2016 and 2025. Over that period, the department reported $43.7 million in salary costs for DEI positions. It also spent $1.43 million on external consultants and $2.67 million on DEI workshops and training. A further $10.9 million was attributed to travel, communications and other DEI-related expenditures.
Some of the higher-cost items noted in the material include multi-day anti-racism training programs, Canada-wide “equity roundtable” travel expenses, and departmental participation in multi-agency DEI conferences and staff retreats.
The documents also reference “department-wide DEI engagement sessions,” accessibility audits, reconciliation advisory services, and intersectional data-collection initiatives.
MP Ho, who submitted the question, posted the figures publicly on Monday, saying they demonstrate unchecked bureaucratic expansion during a period of rising household costs. The records released to Parliament contain only the Secretariat’s internal DEI spending and do not capture costs across the broader federal public service.
Everyone needs to call DEI what it is, "anti-white". It's anti-man too, but I think anti-white is more cutting. It's an "anti-white" seminar, antiwhite training, antiwhite policy. Refer to it like that.