Canada Employment Department Spends $998.5 Million on Consultants, 10% Above Average Despite 20% Cut Vow
Updated
Updated · Toronto Sun · Aug 24
Canada Employment Department Spends $998.5 Million on Consultants, 10% Above Average Despite 20% Cut Vow
1 articles · Updated · Toronto Sun · Aug 24
Summary
$998.5 million in 2025 consultant spending put Canada’s Department of Employment about 10% above its six-year average of $910 million, despite Prime Minister Mark Carney’s pledge to cut such spending by 20%.
An April 21 briefing binder defended the hiring, saying consultants offer rapid, flexible access to specialized skills needed for operations, internal systems and departmental transformation efforts.
The department had already argued in a 2024 memo that no employees were available for some work, even though it then employed 34,410 staff.
The spending sits within a broader federal pattern: Ottawa spends about $25 billion a year on consultants, while the 2025 public-sector payroll reached $84.9 billion for 611,874 employees.