The federal bureaucracy has expanded by 98,986 employees over the past decade, reaching a total of 357,965 workers, according to new figures released by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.Despite a modest reduction of 9,807 employees in the last year, the federal workforce remains 38% larger than it was in 2016. “The last thing Canadians need is a bloated government full of highly paid paper pushers,” said Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “If politicians want to provide tax relief and start paying down the federal debt, they need to shrink government bureaucracy.”The average full-time federal employee now receives $125,300 annually in pay, pension, and other benefits, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. The PBO also estimates the federal bureaucracy cost taxpayers $69.5 billion in 2023–24, up from $40.2 billion in 2016–17 — an increase of 72.9%.Seven federal departments and agencies have more than doubled their workforce since 2016. Leading the list is Infrastructure Canada, with a 375% increase, followed by Women and Gender Equality Canada at 334%, and the RCMP External Review Committee at 229%. Others include Elections Canada (173%), the Immigration and Refugee Board (158%), the Financial Consumer Agency (154%), and the Impact Assessment Agency (127%).Employment and Social Development Canada added the most employees during the decade, growing by 16,842 workers — a 75% increase. The Canada Revenue Agency followed, expanding by 13,015 employees, or 33%.Terrazzano welcomed the recent modest decline but said it doesn’t go far enough. “It’s good to see the bureaucracy shrinking a little bit, but it’s still too bloated and too expensive.”In addition to staffing increases, compensation has surged. Between 2020 and 2023, the federal government issued more than one million pay raises and approved over $1.5 billion in bonuses since 2015.The growth in size and cost has not translated into improved outcomes. According to a March 2023 report from the PBO, fewer than 50% of federal departments consistently meet their own annual performance targets.The Liberal Party’s 2025 election platform pledges to cap, but not cut, public service employment. Terrazzano criticized the commitment as inadequate. “Prime Minister Mark Carney’s promise to cap the bureaucracy doesn’t go nearly far enough and just entrenches the Trudeau government’s costly bureaucrat hiring spree,” he said. “Taxpayers need politicians to cut the bloated bureaucracy and make pay and perks more affordable.”
