The size of Canada’s federal bureaucracy has surged by nearly 99,000 employees over the last decade, even as the country grapples with record-high debt and affordability challenges, according to newly released data from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

The figures, analyzed by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, show a net increase of 98,986 federal employees since 2016, bringing the total headcount to 357,965—an overall growth of 38%. While the government trimmed roughly 9,800 jobs over the past year, watchdogs say the broader trend remains deeply troubling.

The federal government added 99,000 bureaucrats over the last 10 years.

The cost of the bureaucracy ballooned 73%.

Carney’s promise to “cap” the bureaucracy just entrenches the Trudeau government’s out of control bureaucrat hiring spree. pic.twitter.com/ek2IXkeC6S

— Franco Terrazzano (@franco_nomics) May 30, 2025

“The last thing Canadians need is a bloated government full of highly paid paper pushers,” said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF). “If politicians want to provide tax relief and start paying down the federal debt, they need to shrink government bureaucracy.”

The federal payroll expansion has come at a steep cost. The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) pegs the average total compensation for a full-time federal bureaucrat—including salary, pensions, and perks—at $125,300 per year. The total cost of the bureaucracy hit $69.5 billion in 2023–24, up from $40.2 billion in 2016–17, marking a 72.9% increase.

According to the CTF, had the federal workforce grown only in line with population growth over the last 10 years, taxpayers would be saving approximately $7 billion annually.

Some federal departments and agencies more than doubled in size during this period, including:

• Infrastructure Canada: up 375%

• Women and Gender Equality Canada: up 334%

• RCMP External Review Committee: up 229%

• Elections Canada: up 173%

• Immigration and Refugee Board: up 158%

• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: up 154%

• Impact Assessment Agency of Canada: up 127%

The Employment and Social Development Canada department saw the biggest raw increase, adding 16,842 employees—a 75% surge. The Canada Revenue Agency followed, adding 13,015 workers, representing a 33% bump.

“It’s good to see the bureaucracy shrinking a little bit, but it’s still too bloated and too expensive,” said Terrazzano.

The CTF also highlighted spending on pay raises and bonuses. From 2020 to 2023, federal bureaucrats received over one million pay raises, and since 2015, more than $1.5 billion in bonuses were approved—even as less than half of government departments consistently meet their own performance targets, according to a March 2023 PBO report.

Despite the mounting costs and underwhelming performance, the federal government’s 2025 election platform promises only to “cap” the public service, not reduce it.

“Prime Minister Mark Carney’s promise to cap the bureaucracy doesn’t go nearly far enough,” said Terrazzano. “Taxpayers need politicians to cut the bloated bureaucracy and make pay and perks more affordable.”

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