OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on all governments to rein in bureaucracy costs as Statistics Canada data shows the growth in government jobs has far outpaced the growth in jobs outside government since February 2020.

“Statistics Canada data shows government bureaucracy in Canada is unaffordable and unsustainable,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Taxpayers need politicians in federal, provincial and municipal governments to massively shrink their bloated bureaucracies now.”

Statistics Canada data shows Canada lost 84,000 jobs last month.

The data also points to a more worrisome trend: The growth in government jobs has more than tripled job growth outside of government since 2020.

The number of government jobs has increased by 21.4 per cent since February 2020, according to Statistics Canada. The number of jobs outside government (private sector and self-employed) increased by just 6.6 per cent.

More than one in five Canadian employees are now employed by governments (21.8 per cent), according to Statistics Canada. For comparison, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average is 18.4 per cent, according to a 2025 OECD report.

The federal government increased the cost of its bureaucracy 80 per cent between 2015 and 2024, according to the public accounts. The Main Estimates show the Carney government will increase the cost of the federal bureaucracy another five per cent in 2026-27.

“Canadian governments are up to their eyeballs in debt and taxpayers can’t afford higher taxes to sustain bloated bureaucracies,” Terrazzano said. “Politicians need to stick up for taxpayers and make government more affordable.”

Most Canadians support cutting the size and cost of the federal bureaucracy, according to Leger polling. Half of Canadians say services have got worse since 2016, despite the massive increase in federal bureaucracy, according to the poll.