The Mark Carney Liberals may be trimming Canada's federal bureaucracy, but a new analysis from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) reveals that the government could have saved $7 billion over the past decade if public service growth had been limited to population growth. The findings come as newly released data show a modest reduction in federal employees but still highlight a 33% increase since 2016.
Federal workforce still 33% larger than in 2016
According to the CTF analysis, the federal government reduced its public servant payroll by 12,683 employees between March 2025 and March 2026. However, Canada still has 86,300 more federal employees than it did in 2016, representing a 33% increase. The average annual wage for a federal bureaucrat is now $161,900, as reported by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO).
“Taxpayers are still paying too much for too many paper pushers in Ottawa,” said Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to make the bureaucracy more affordable to provide meaningful tax relief and stop borrowing money.”
Some departments saw workforce growth of over 300%
The CTF analysis identified several departments that experienced explosive growth since 2016. Infrastructure Canada led the list with a 376% increase in employees. Women and Gender Equality Canada (a department of Canadian Heritage) grew by 301%, while the RCMP External Review Committee expanded by 214%. Other notable increases include the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (174%), Elections Canada (154%), the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (150%), and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (116%).
Bureaucracy costs skyrocket 80% in a decade
A PBO report earlier this year found that Canada's bureaucracy cost taxpayers $71.4 billion in 2024-25, up from $39.6 billion in 2015-16—an increase of 80% over 10 years. Total compensation per full-time federal employee reached $143,271 last year, marking a second consecutive year of historically high growth in spending per employee. The federal government is forecast to spend $79.4 billion on the bureaucracy this year, according to public accounts.
“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,” Terrazzano said.
Public opinion favors cuts
A Leger poll found that half of Canadians say federal services have gotten worse since 2016, despite the massive increase in the bureaucracy. The same poll indicated that most Canadians support cutting the size and cost of the bureaucracy. The CTF analysis underscores the growing frustration among taxpayers as the federal workforce continues to expand well beyond population growth.
