Ottawa’s bureaucracy has ballooned in both size and cost over the past decade, with newly released Public Accounts showing taxpayers shelled out $71.4 billion for the federal workforce in 2024-25 — a $6-billion jump from the previous year alone.The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says the numbers prove the system is out of control and is urging Prime Minister Mark Carney to slash the size of the federal administration.“The Public Accounts show the cost of the federal bureaucracy is out of control,” said Franco Terrazzano, the CTF’s federal director. “Tinkering around the edges won’t cut it, Carney needs to take urgent action to shrink the bloated federal bureaucracy.”The latest figures show the cost of Ottawa’s bureaucracy climbed more than 9% in a single year. .A longer look is even more stark: back in 2015-16, the federal workforce cost taxpayers $39.6 billion. That means spending on federal bureaucrats has surged 80% over the past 10 years, with the government adding 99,000 employees over that time.Despite the growth, half of Canadians say federal services have actually gotten worse since 2016, according to polling from Leger.The surge isn’t limited to internal staffing. Spending on consultants, contractors, and outsourcing reached a staggering $23.1 billion last year — an 11% increase over the previous year and more than double what Ottawa spent in 2015-16.“Taxpayers should not be paying way more for in-house government bureaucrats and way more for outside help,” Terrazzano said. He warned that minor savings pledges won’t resolve what he called a severe fiscal imbalance.“Taxpayers need Carney to take urgent action and significantly cut the number of bureaucrats now.”
