The cost of the federal public service has ballooned by 80 per cent over the past 10 years while half of Canadians say services have worsened, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said Tuesday.
In a fiery online speech, CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano highlighted figures from the newly released Public Accounts of Canada, showing the bureaucracy cost taxpayers $71.4 billion in 2024-25, up from $39.6 billion in 2015-16.
“The cost of the federal bureaucracy to you, dear taxpayer, increased 80% over 10 years. Like, what are you paying for? This is crazy,” Terrazzano said.
He noted the government added roughly 100,000 bureaucrats over the decade, with more than $1 billion paid out in bonuses.
A poll cited by Terrazzano found that despite the spending surge, half of Canadians believe federal services have deteriorated since 2016. Terrazzano also slammed spending on outside help, saying the government spent $23.1 billion last year on “professional and special services” – a category that includes consultants, contractors and outsourcing.
That figure has more than doubled since 2015-16.
“Taxpayers should not be paying way more for in-house government bureaucrats and also way more for outside help. This is nuts, folks,” he said.
“Cost of the bureaucracy up 80% in 10 years. The cost of the contractors, the outsourcing consultants, more than doubling in 10 years. Enough is enough.”
Terrazzano called the federal budget “so bloated we need massive cuts now.”