Privy Council Office Outsourced Millions in Work Despite Full-Time Staff
OTTAWA — Despite Prime Minister Mark Carney's pledge to curb reliance on external consultants, newly released documents show the Privy Council Office (PCO) expended millions of dollars on outside contractors in 2025. This occurred while the office maintained a workforce of over 1,200 full-time employees, sparking criticism over fiscal management.
Data Reveals Significant Contractor Expenditures
According to information obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) through an access-to-information request, the PCO disbursed $17,446,103.28 on 171 external vendors and contractors last year. These included audiovisual companies, consulting firms, IT providers, think tanks, and media outlets such as The Hill Times, iPolitics, and the UK-based Economist newspaper. Notably, some funds went to non-Canadian entities based in the United States.
Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the CTF, expressed dismay: "This is a huge problem for taxpayers because the government is spending more on in-house bureaucrats and more for outside help. Why are we paying so much for so little? Carney promised to cut this type of wasteful spending, and he needs to work harder to keep that promise."
Communications and Research Spending Under Scrutiny
The data indicates that $5.8 million was allocated to communications, marketing, and research services. Key recipients included Earnscliffe Strategy Group, which received $138,750; UK-based EssenceMediacom, paid $4.8 million; Haver Analytics of New York City, awarded $78,247.93; and Factiva Ltd., a Dow Jones subsidiary, which garnered $142,982.73.
Contrastingly, publicly available records reveal that the PCO employs 79 full-time staff dedicated to communications and analysis, with a total payroll cost of $8.4 million annually. Salaries for these positions range from $74,180 to $181,365. Additionally, 243 full-time public servants are tasked with policy analysis and research, incurring a $27 million payroll expenditure.
Additional Questionable Expenses Highlighted
Beyond core services, the PCO's spending included:
- $12,900 for a "Hatha Slow Flow" yoga instructor located two hours outside Ottawa.
- $20,400 to an Ottawa limousine company.
- $4,665 on artwork rentals from the Canada Council of the Arts' federal art bank.
- $1,300 to a self-described "productivity ninja."
- $53,408.40 to the Federal Liberal Agency of Canada, the chief agent of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Despite having nearly a million dollars in payroll for full-time audio-visual staff, the PCO also billed $641,400 on A/V consulting services. Terrazzano criticized this overlap: "It doesn't make sense for taxpayers to pay bureaucrats to do a job and then pay consultants to do the same job."
Broader Trends in Government Consulting Spending
Federal spending on external contractors has been rising steadily. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, the government allocated $19 billion to such services, a nearly $2 billion increase from the previous year. Treasury Board Secretariat projections suggest spending on "professional and special services" could reach $26.6 billion by FY 2026-27.
Concerns about oversight have been amplified by incidents like the ArriveCan app, which ballooned to a $60 million cost from an initial budget of just over $2 million due to poor management. During the 2025 election, Carney vowed to "significantly reduce reliance on external consultants" by utilizing existing public servants more effectively.
However, CTF data shows that spending by the PCO on professional and outside services has surged from $9.6 million in FY 2015-16 to $36 million in FY 2024-25, indicating a persistent trend contrary to Carney's promises. The Toronto Sun reached out to the Privy Council Office for comment but received no response as of Tuesday afternoon.
