The federal government has spent a staggering $4.3 million printing physical copies of its budget since 2015, despite a decade-old directive to transition to digital-only publications. The cost, which averages nearly half a million dollars annually, has drawn sharp criticism for its inefficiency in the digital age.The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) revealed that Ottawa continues to allocate significant funds to print thousands of budget copies each year, with the most expensive year on record being 2023, when the government spent $753,160 printing 4,200 copies. This figure is $443,370 more than the amount spent in 2015 under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper..“It’s 2024, presumably the government isn’t still using carrier pigeons, so it probably doesn’t need to spend half-a-million dollars printing paper copies of its budget every year,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Not only are taxpayers getting soaked by what’s in the budget, we’re also getting a six-figure tab just to print it out.”Despite the federal government’s emphasis on embracing the digital economy, the printing costs remain high. The average cost for each budget copy stands at $110, with the total number of printed copies reaching 39,218 since 2015. In comparison, the least expensive year was 2021, when the government spent $215,434 printing 1,599 copies.The CTF highlighted the absurdity of the expenditure, suggesting that the government could have saved money by opting for digital distribution or even by purchasing large quantities of office supplies and assigning the task to new bureaucrats. Even after such hypothetical spending, the government would have saved a million dollars compared to the $4.3 million spent.“The government proved in 2021 that it could bring printing costs down, so taxpayers expect that to happen every year moving forward,” Terrazzano added. “Printing some physical copies is understandable, but an average tab of half-a-million-dollars is silly.”This spending comes as the Trudeau government struggles to meet its environmental commitments, such as the promise to plant two billion trees by 2030. According to estimates, approximately 1,460 pine trees would have been cut down to produce the paper used for these budget copies, further underscoring the environmental impact of the practice.
