The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is using taxpayer dollars to grow its bureaucracy while shrinking its newsroom, according to access-to-information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).
Federal Director Franco Terrazzano said the trend calls into question why Canadians continue to fund the broadcaster.
“CBC defends its very existence based on its journalism, but its number of journalists are going down while its bureaucracy keeps getting bigger and taxpayer costs keeps going up,” he said.
Marie-P said the records show the CBC employed 745 staff with “journalist” or “reporter” in their job title in 2021, a number that fell to 649 by 2025.
Out of 6,100 total employees in 2025, just 11% held journalism titles. Roles such as editors, producers and hosts also declined during the same period.
Meanwhile, bureaucratic positions expanded. Management roles rose to 949 in 2025 from 935 in 2021, while administrators, advisors, analysts and sales staff all increased. Titles like “national director,” “project lead,” “senior manager” and “supervisor” saw the sharpest growth.
The CBC continues to promote its news coverage as justification for more than $1 billion in annual taxpayer funding despite the decline in journalism positions.
Access-to-information records show more than 250 directors, 450 managers and 780 producers earning over $100,000 annually, along with advisers, analysts, hosts and project leads in similarly high-paid roles.
CBC CEO Marie-Philippe Bouchard defended the broadcaster as a “precious public asset” delivering “trustworthy news and information,” echoing previous CEO Catherine Tait, who insisted a Canada without the CBC would mean fewer journalists holding decision-makers accountable.
However, CBC News Network holds only 1.8% of the TV audience share, according to the broadcaster’s own data.
Meanwhile, federal funding is set to surpass $1.4 billion this year, with $5.4 billion spent over the last five years.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has called the broadcaster “underfunded” and pledged a $150-million annual increase, with the potential for more.
The CBC has also faced scrutiny for executive compensation. After cutting hundreds of jobs in 2024, the broadcaster paid $18.4 million in bonuses and later handed out $37.7 million in record pay raises.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for an office full of middle managers pretending to be reporters,” Terrazzano said.
“The CBC’s own records prove it has fat to cut, and if Carney is serious about saving money, he would force CBC to cut its bureaucratic bloat. Or better yet, Carney should defund the CBC.”