The latest report by Canada’s federal budget watchdog reveals that taxpayers are paying about $130,000 in compensation per full-time federal employee.
According to Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Yves Giroux, forecasts shows that the cost of federal public service salaries and benefits for full-time workers will reach $55 billion in 2022 and balloon even further in the coming years. When taking into account all personnel and not just those employed full-time, that figure grows to $60.7 billion.
“Over the past 7 years, personnel spending grew by an average of 6.7 per cent annually, from $39.6 billion to $60.7 billion,” explained Giroux.
“Based on the Government’s spending plans, PBO projects that over the next five years, the number of (full-time employees) will reach over 409,000 by 2026-27. By that time, PBO projects personnel expenditures to reach $59.1 billion.”
Canadian Taxpayers Federation federal director Franco Terrazzano called on the government to downsize in a statement responding to the PBO report.
“The Trudeau government needs to take some air out of its ballooning bureaucracy,” said Terrazzano.
“Struggling Canadian taxpayers can’t afford more bureaucrats with bigger salaries,” he continued.
“It’s not fair to ask the Canadians who lost their job or took a pay cut during the pandemic to pay higher taxes so the federal government can add a bunch of bureaucrats with bigger salaries.”
A vast majority of the jobs created during the Covid-19 pandemic were in the public sector. A recent study by the Fraser Institute found that 86.7% of all of the jobs created were government positions.
While the private sector continues to suffer, the Liberals have lavished federal employees with significant bonuses and pay raises.
Last year, the Treasury Board signed off on over $190 million in bonuses for over 16,000 federal managers.
At the same time, public service workers have refused to return to the workplace and have called for the continuation of a hybrid parliament.
