Prime Minister Mark Carney and his delegation billed taxpayers nearly $160,000 for in-flight catering during a single week-long foreign trip, according to government records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

The records, released through an Order Paper response, show Carney and a 55-person entourage spent $159,800 on airplane food during a November 2025 trip that included stops in Athens, Abu Dhabi, Johannesburg and the Canary Islands. That works out to roughly $2,850 per passenger.

The government noted some costs may ultimately be reimbursed, but has not disclosed whether any reimbursements have been made.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation argues the spending undermines the federal government's repeated promises to reduce travel costs and curb unnecessary spending.

"Carney spent more money on airplane food during one trip than the average family will spend on groceries in almost a decade," said CTF Federal Director Franco Terrazzano. "Carney keeps promising to spend less, but if he isn't willing to cut back on airplane food, then what will he spend less on?"

Menus obtained by the CTF show passengers were served multi-course meals featuring dishes including chicken supreme with morel sauce, beef tenderloin with pepper sauce, Chilean sea bass, chicken chasseur and slow-roasted cod with tarragon cream sauce. Breakfast options included French toast with cinnamon and berries or a sundried tomato and mozzarella omelette. Desserts included tiramisu, cheesecake and a chocolate parfait described as "death by chocolate."

According to the records, Carney spent nearly $1 million on airplane catering across 14 flights during his first year as prime minister.

The CTF points to other government travel as evidence that substantially lower catering costs are possible.

During another international trip to Poland, Germany and Latvia, Carney's 62-person delegation spent just $9,270 on airplane food, according to the same government records.

Former defence minister Bill Blair and his delegation spent $2,350 on in-flight catering during a 12-day trip in 2025, while the Chief of the Defence Staff and accompanying Canadian Armed Forces personnel reportedly billed taxpayers nothing for airplane food during an official trip to Washington.

The latest figures also exceed spending that previously generated public controversy.

In 2022, then-governor general Mary Simon faced widespread criticism after spending about $100,000 on airplane catering during a week-long Middle East tour. Members of Parliament described those costs as "absurd" during committee hearings, prompting the federal government to acknowledge the spending was "problematic" and pledge to reduce similar expenses in the future.

"We are committed to ongoing scrutiny to identify and implement further cost savings," the government said at the time.

Despite those assurances, the CTF notes Carney's November 2025 catering bill exceeded Simon's by roughly $60,000.

"It's possible for the Prime Minister to travel internationally without billing taxpayers six figures for airplane food," Terrazzano said. "We need Carney to make sure these types of bills never happen again."

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