CALGARY — Canadian taxpayers would be saving roughly $7 billion this year if the federal bureaucracy had grown at the same pace as the country's population over the past decade, according to new analysis from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).The findings come as newly released federal data shows Ottawa reduced its workforce by 12,683 employees between March 2025 and March 2026, a decline of 3.5%.Despite that reduction, the federal government still employs 86,303 more people than it did in 2016 — an increase of 33% compared to population growth of 15% over the same period.“Taxpayers are still paying too much for too many paper pushers in Ottawa,” said Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the CTF.“Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to make the bureaucracy more affordable to provide meaningful tax relief and stop borrowing money.”According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, the average compensation package for a full-time federal bureaucrat now stands at $161,900 annually.Based on those figures, the CTF estimates taxpayers would save approximately $7 billion in 2026 if federal staffing levels had expanded only in line with population growth over the last decade..CTF warns Kingston stop could inflate cost of Carney's $90-billion high-speed rail project.Several federal departments and agencies have seen dramatic growth since 2016.Infrastructure Canada recorded the largest increase, growing by 376%. Women and Gender Equality Canada expanded by 301%, while the RCMP External Review Committee grew by 214%.Other agencies that more than doubled in size include the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Elections Canada, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.Employment and Social Development Canada added the largest number of employees during that period, increasing its workforce by 13,228 workers, or 59%.The Canada Revenue Agency recorded the second-largest increase, adding 9,290 employees, representing a 24% increase.The growth in staffing has also been accompanied by rising costs.The Parliamentary Budget Officer projects the federal government will spend $79.4 billion on the bureaucracy this year, up from $69.2 billion last year.Public Accounts data shows the cost of the federal bureaucracy increased by 80% between 2015 and 2024.Terrazzano said the recent reduction in staffing levels is a step in the right direction but argued much more needs to be done.“The number of federal employees is shrinking a little bit, but Carney still has lots of work to do to shrink Ottawa’s bloated bureaucracy,” he said.The CTF also pointed to polling suggesting many Canadians remain dissatisfied with federal services despite the growth in government staffing.According to a Leger survey cited by the organization, half of Canadians believe federal services have deteriorated since 2016, while a majority support reducing both the size and cost of the federal bureaucracy.
