Travel costs for Governor General Mary Simon climbed again last year, even after MPs publicly rebuked what they called “absurd” expenses and demanded tighter oversight of Rideau Hall’s spending.Records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show the Department of National Defence increased its travel spending on the governor general by 21% in 2024-25. Taxpayers covered about $3 million in costs through National Defence alone, including personnel, equipment, transportation, meals and hotels.That increase came just one year after spending dipped to roughly $2.5 million in 2023-24, when parliamentary committees hauled officials before them over lavish travel bills and pressed for restraint.Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said taxpayers were promised tighter controls following the controversy, but costs quickly rebounded once public attention faded.Over the past seven years, National Defence has spent more than $26 million providing travel “support” for the governor general, according to the federation. That total does not include additional costs incurred through other departments such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Global Affairs Canada and Canadian Heritage..The renewed spending increase also comes in the wake of a critical October 2025 report from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, which detailed poor living conditions for some Canadian Armed Forces members, including broken toilets, damaged walls and unsafe drinking water in certain quarters.Among the trips drawing scrutiny was a $227,000 visit to Paris last year. Other travel details remain opaque, including an Oct. 17–19, 2024 trip costing $141,000 that was not accompanied by a standard public press release from the governor general’s office.Earlier international travel has also raised eyebrows. In 2022, Simon’s four-day trip to Iceland cost about $300,000, including $71,000 on limousines. A separate week-long Middle East trip that same year totalled roughly $1 million, including about $100,000 for airplane catering.Canadian Heritage also spent about $800,000 on the governor general’s participation in a 2021 German book fair, part of a four-day event that ultimately cost taxpayers $18 million.After outrage over six-figure airplane food bills and other expenses, MPs summoned Rideau Hall officials to committee hearings in 2023, calling the travel spending “absurd.” .A parliamentary committee later recommended the government review the governor general’s international travel practices to ensure value for money, and the government acknowledged the spending was “problematic.”Despite that pledge, the latest figures show ’s spending on vice-regal travel rising once again.Terrazzano said Canadians would rather see federal dollars spent on ensuring service members have clean water and proper equipment than underwriting what he described as unnecessary international trips.With costs once again trending upward, critics say MPs must decide whether last year’s promises of restraint were meaningful — or merely temporary damage control.
