Canada’s Governor General received another bump in her salary this year, bringing her total pay for 2025 to $378,000 following the $15,200 increase.
Mary Simon was appointed governor general in 2021 on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and has received four pay raises since taking on the role, earning $49,300 more today than she did upon her appointment.
Those collective pay raises alone account for over two-thirds of the average Canadian’s salary, according to Statistics Canada.
“Can anyone in government explain how Canadians are getting more value from the governor general, because her taxpayer-funded salary just increased by more than $1,200 a month,” said federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation Franco Terrazzano.
“The automatic-pay-raise culture in Ottawa is ridiculous and politicians and bureaucrats shouldn’t expect more money every year just because they’re on the taxpayer payroll.”
The details of the governor general’s salary and recent raise were obtained by the CTF from the Privy Council Office.
“For 2025, the Governor General’s salary, which is determined in accordance with the provisions of the Governor General’s Act … is $378,000,” a spokesperson with the PCO confirmed to the tax advocacy group.
The Trudeau government has been generous to whoever holds the position of governor general, increasing its annual salary by 25 per cent since 2019.
“Canadians can’t afford to keep paying more for a largely symbolic role,” Terrazzano said. “The governor general already takes a huge taxpayer-funded salary and she should show leadership by refusing this year’s pay hike.”
In addition to the luxurious salary, the governor general resides in a taxpayer-funded manion and receives a clothing and dry-clean budget.
The Governor General’s office has racked up over $88,000 in expenses on designer fashion at the expense of taxpayers since 2017.
That doesn’t cover the cost of washing and dry cleaning those clothes, with the GG’s office spending $117,566 on laundry services since 2018.
Travel expenses are another perk received by the governor general and Simon alone charged Canadians nearly $3 million for them during her first year in office.
Simon also billed taxpayers $71,000 for limousine services during a four-day trip to Iceland in 2022.
Receipts later revealed that an additional $115,000 was spent on hotel bookings and hotel refreshments, while another $10,000 was spent on throwing a “Friends of Canada Reception,” bringing the total excursion to $298,000.
Upon retirement, Simon will be eligible for a full pension of about $150,000 per year and is permitted to continue billing taxpayers for expenses of up to $206,000 per year.
A governor general’s expense account survives even their death, and will be active for a further six months.
“Platinum pay and perks for the governor general should have been reined in a long time ago,” said Terrazzano.
“The government should stop rubber-stamping pay raises for the governor general every year, end the expense account for former governors general, reform the platinum pension, scrap the clothing allowance and cut all international travel except for meetings with the monarchy.”
