A 37.9 per cent increase in public service employment under Trudeau leadership yields no discernable improvements in service

Despite an unprecedented increase in the number of public servants, the Canadian government has not seen a proportional improvement in the quality of services provided to Canadians, according to a study by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI).

Gabriel Giguère

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“The rapid expansion of the government workforce has not yielded the anticipated improvements in service quality and efficiency,” said Gabriel Giguère, public policy analyst at the MEI and author of the study. “This has raised questions about the government’s ability to provide effective and streamlined services to Canadians.”

“The government seems to have lost control of government growth,” he added.

The latest figures from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat state that as of Mar. 31, the federal government employed 357,247 public servants.

This represents a 37.9 per cent increase or a rise of almost 100,000 employees over the size of the government when the first Trudeau budget was tabled in March of 2016.

Canada now has nine federal employees for every 1,000 inhabitants, 25.3 per cent higher than eight years ago.

Furthermore, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, labour costs have surged by 53.2 per cent under the Trudeau government. But despite this substantial expenditure, Canadians have yet to witness any discernible benefits, said Giguère.

The growth in the federal workforce under the Trudeau government represents a departure from the restraint observed in the administrations of the past four decades. Previous governments, including those of Brian Mulroney, Jean Chrétien, and Stephen Harper, all recorded reductions in the number of federal public servants per 1,000 Canadians during their respective mandates.

A ranking of prime ministers since 1984 based on the change in the number of civil servants per 1,000 inhabitants reveals a stark contrast:

1. Brian Mulroney, -10.2 per cent
2. Jean Chrétien, -9.7 per cent
3. Stephen Harper, -6.3 per cent
4. Paul Martin, -1.0 per cent
5. Justin Trudeau, +25.3 per cent

| Staff

To interview Gabriel Giguère, click here.

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