OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to actively shrink the bureaucracy rather than relying on attrition.

“After adding about 100,000 bureaucrats in a decade, attrition doesn’t go nearly far enough,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Carney needs to get serious about fixing the budget and making government more affordable for taxpayers.

“Carney needs to significantly shrink the bureaucracy immediately.”

Carney recently stated that any reduction of the size of the federal bureaucracy will “happen naturally through attrition.”

The federal bureaucracy cost taxpayers $71.1 billion in 2024-25, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. The bureaucracy cost taxpayers $40.2 billion in 2016-17. That means the cost of the federal bureaucracy increased 77 per cent since 2016.

The federal government added 99,000 bureaucrats since 2016.

Carney said he would “balance the operating budget by Budget 2028” during the election. The bureaucracy consumes about 55 per cent of the operating budget.

“Canadians pay too much for an expensive bureaucracy that underdelivers,” Terrazzano said. “Carney needs to get serious about fixing the budget, making government more affordable and shrinking the federal bureaucracy.”

Half of Canadians say federal services have gotten worse since 2016, according to a recent Leger poll commissioned by the CTF. That’s despite the cost of the federal bureaucracy growing 77 per cent. The poll also found that 54 per cent of Canadians want the government to cut the size and cost of the federal bureaucracy.