Prime Minister's Travel Expenses Top $772,000 in First Year
Newly released records from Global Affairs Canada reveal that Prime Minister Mark Carney's international travel during his first year in office incurred significant costs for Canadian taxpayers. The documents show expenditures exceeding $772,000 for in-flight catering and accommodations between March 2025 and early 2026.
Detailed Breakdown of Accommodation Costs
The government department provided accommodation expenses for six international trips taken between March and June 2025. These costs totaled $472,293.29 and included substantial stays in several global capitals:
- $141,069.33 for accommodations in The Hague
- $133,372.60 for stays in Rome and Vatican City
- $73,789.64 for Brussels lodging
- $48,358.50 for Washington DC accommodations
- $39,415.12 for Paris hotel expenses
- $36,288.10 for London accommodations
Global Affairs Canada noted that security concerns prevent disclosure of specific hotel names and addresses where the prime minister stayed. The department also declined to reveal details about the size of Carney's entourage, citing potential security implications regarding protective personnel assignments.
In-Flight Catering Expenses Revealed
Separate records detail in-flight catering costs for nine international journeys between March and November 2025. These expenses totaled $300,194.07, with individual trip costs varying significantly:
- Carney's inaugural international trip as prime minister to Paris cost $7,658.08 for in-flight catering
- His second international journey to London incurred $52,610.23 in catering expenses
- A trip to New York showed $685.33 in catering costs, though this amount was noted as incomplete due to pending invoice reconciliation
The department emphasized that all catering services comply with Canadian food safety standards, with Royal Canadian Air Force flight stewards verifying that all food brought aboard government aircraft meets regulatory requirements for passenger and crew safety.
Additional Travel and Pending Expenses
Beyond the documented trips, Carney has undertaken numerous additional international journeys that remain unaccounted for in the released figures. Records indicate the prime minister made:
- Fifteen more international trips through the end of 2025
- Four additional journeys in early 2026 to Paris, Beijing, Doha, and Davos, Switzerland
Global Affairs Canada stated that expense processing for these remaining visits continues, with the department cautioning that premature reporting could result in "inaccurate, misleading, or incomplete information." This suggests the total travel costs for Carney's first year may ultimately exceed the currently documented $772,000 figure.
Parliamentary Inquiry Origins
The expense revelations originated from a parliamentary question posed by Conservative MP Philip Lawrence in October 2025. The Northumberland—Clarke representative requested detailed breakdowns of:
- Total hotel accommodation expenditures for the prime minister and his entourage
- Complete in-flight catering costs for all international travel
- Specific hotel names and addresses for all prime ministerial stays
The released data represents the government's response to this formal inquiry, providing Canadians with unprecedented transparency regarding prime ministerial travel expenses during Carney's initial year leading the country.
