Under Trudeau, the civil service has grown twice as fast as Canada’s population

The size of nan civilian work has exploded during nan Trudeau Liberals’ 9 years successful power: increasing much than 43 per cent, moreover though nan country’s organization has grown by little than 15 per cent successful nan aforesaid period.

As of March 31, nan national government’s payroll included 367,772 persons, according to data conscionable published by nan national Treasury Board. On March 31, 2015, nan past afloat fiscal twelvemonth that nan Harper Conservatives were successful power, nan civilian work organization was 257,034.  That’s an mean yearly maturation complaint of much than 3.6 per cent per twelvemonth aliases double Canada’s mean yearly organization maturation successful nan aforesaid play of astir 1.6 per cent.

The civilian work grew by much than six per cent successful some 2021 and 2023.  By comparison, nan size of nan civilian work shrank successful each of nan past 5 years nan Harper Conservatives were successful power.

“To present nan basal services connected which Canadians rely, nan nationalist work adjusts its size according to authorities priorities and programme requirements, pinch lawman heads ensuring workforce alignment pinch mandates,” Treasury Board President Anita Anand said successful an email statement.

Anand’s department, nan Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), is responsible for wide management and guidance of authorities operations. “Under nan Harper government’s [deficit simplification action plan], complete 19,200 group mislaid their occupation and nan value of work transportation crossed nan state was impacted. By contrast, we will ever guarantee our nationalist work remains well-staffed and businesslike successful delivering nan value services Canadians expect and deserve.’’

A TBS spokesperson said nan authorities has committed to uncovering savings of $4.2 cardinal complete nan adjacent 4 years and those savings will see nan elimination of astir 5,000 nationalist work jobs complete 4 years by attrition.

That said: neither Anand nor immoderate different curate queried by Global News could supply specifics astir what each those other bureaucrats really do to support aliases amended value of work delivery.

For example, nan bureaucracy that serves nan premier curate has grown dramatically during nan Trudeau years. That bureaucracy, known arsenic nan Privy Council Office, has 1,288 labor successful 2024, an summation of 561 group aliases 77 per cent compared to nan 727 PCO labor successful 2015. And yet, erstwhile asked to explicate why his agency needed truthful galore much employees, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not answer, alternatively directing queries to nan bureaucrats successful nan PCO.

PCO bureaucrats did not respond to emailed requests for accusation nor did anyone reply nan PCO media relations statement aliases responde to voicemails near astatine that PCO media relations line.

The maturation successful nan civilian work nether nan Trudeau authorities is crossed each departments and each regions of nan country, though immoderate departments for illustration nan Canada Revenue Agency and immoderate provinces successful Atlantic Canada person seen importantly much maturation than others.

The dataset published by nan Treasury Board includes civilian labor of nan Department of National Defence and immoderate civilian labor of nan RCMP but does not see either service’s uniformed members nor does it see immoderate categories of RCMP civilian employees.  The dataset besides omits worker headcounts of Crown corporations specified arsenic nan CBC, nan Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. aliases Canada Post.

That information shows astir national authorities employees, not surprisingly, unrecorded successful nan parts of Ontario and Quebec known arsenic nan National Capital Region (NCR). Indeed, nan NCR successful 2024 was location to 42.3 per cent of each civilian servants astatine nan extremity of nan government’s astir caller fiscal twelvemonth connected March 31. That’s only marginally much than nan 41.7 per cent of civilian servants based successful nan NCR during nan Harper government’s last year.

The astir accelerated location maturation during nan Trudeau years has been successful 2 Atlantic provinces.

Newfoundland and Labrador now has 7,606 national authorities workers, an summation of 2,895 aliases 61.5 per cent since Stephen Harper’s Conservatives near office.

“The past Conservative authorities gutted national jobs successful Newfoundland and Labrador, closing Coast Guard stations and Veterans Affairs offices and ignoring opportunities to find nationalist services successful nan province.” said Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan, who represents a St. John’s area riding and is nan province’s governmental minister. ” Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are arsenic tin arsenic immoderate Canadian to activity for nan Government of Canada. I’m gladsome we reversed nan cuts.”

New Brunswick fared moreover amended and now has 13,410 national authorities workers, an summation of 5,129 aliases 61.9 per cent. The governmental curate for New Brunswick, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, deferred remark to nan Treasury Board.

As for occidental Canada, nan national authorities headcount successful British Columbia is up 30 per cent since 2015 to 29,881; it is up successful Alberta by 36 per cent to 19,602; up successful Manitoba 38.7 per cent to 13,995 but successful Saskatchewan, nan civilian work headcount grew conscionable  15.6 per cent to 6,803.

Ontario and Quebec — extracurricular of nan NCR — saw nan national authorities worker footprint turn 35 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively.

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Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre, who represents an Ottawa-area riding pinch plentifulness of civilian servants, was not disposable for remark Tuesday. But his agency directed reporters to comments he made successful May aft nan merchandise of a Public Service Commission study which besides highlighted nan maturation successful nan civilian work nether nan Trudeau government.

“[Trudeau] is delivering worse service. You can’t get anyone connected nan telephone astatine CRA. Incredible delays conscionable to get a passport.  And nan national authorities is not delivering immoderate services that it wasn’t delivering before,” Poilievre said successful Vancouver connected May 16.

“In different words, aft 9 years of Trudeau, Canadians are paying much for bureaucracy to get little successful service.”

The wide summation successful worker headcount during nan Trudeau years tin beryllium seen arsenic a reflection of its argumentation priorities. For example, nan section of nan Status of Women, arsenic it was known during nan Harper years, had conscionable 92 labor successful 2015. But pinch Justin Trudeau astatine nan helm — a self-described feminist premier curate — nan section was re-christened arsenic Women and Gender Equality Canada and it now employs 443 people.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission has 300 labor now; it had 204 erstwhile Harper finished.

Infrastructure Canada’s headcount is 1,506 now; it was 354 successful 2015.

Like nan Harper government, nan Trudeau government’s azygous biggest departmental employer — again, extracurricular of uniformed members of nan RCMP aliases nan Canadian Forces — is nan Canada Revenue Agency. It employed conscionable complete 59,000 group astatine March 31, an summation of much than 19,000 aliases 48 per cent compared to nan 40,059 nan CRA employed successful nan past twelvemonth of nan Harper government’s tenure.

In 2015, location were conscionable six departments pinch 10,000 labor aliases more. In 2024, location are 10.

The Trudeau authorities has 18,961 civilian servants purchasing its equipment and services astatine Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), an summation of 57 per cent compared to nan group who did nan aforesaid point successful Harper’s last twelvemonth successful office.

“PSPC plays a cardinal domiciled arsenic a cardinal agency, managing nan procurement of equipment and services weighted astatine astir $23 cardinal connected behalf of customer departments and agencies annually,” Guillaume Bertrand, a spokesperson for PSPC Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, said successful an emailed statement. “This includes delivering of cardinal priorities, for illustration humanities investments successful nan recapitalization of Canada’s equipped forces, nan Canadian Dental Care Plan and building much homes connected nationalist lands.”

The size of Canada’s migration section — now known arsenic Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada — has much than doubled successful 9 years, from 6,385 successful 2015 to 13,092 this year. “The Department has been experiencing important year-over-year increases,” a spokeperson said successful an emailed statement, “driven by world liking successful entering Canada temporarily aliases permanently. To accommodate to this volume, nan Department has added resources, embraced caller technology, streamlined processing, brought much processes online and remains elastic to respond to world humanitarian crises.”

It tin beryllium difficult, successful immoderate cases, to make meticulous comparisons astatine nan section aliases agency level. The departments of Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, for example, were created erstwhile nan Trudeau government, successful 2017, decided to divided up nan erstwhile section of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), a section that existed done Harper’s tenure.

But among those departments were a comparison betwixt nan Harper era and nan Trudeau era is possible, almost nary are smaller today. Only nan Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) is smaller — 604 labor now versus 602  in 2015 — and nan National Film Board has six less labor — 388 now versus 394 then.