National Defence’s bill for the governor general’s travel actually went up again last year even after a parliamentary committee heavily scrutinized the “absurdity” of her travel costs in 2023.

And while the military spent about $3 million on Governor General Mary Simon’s travel, an auditor general’s report found some men and women in uniform don’t have safe drinking water.

“Taxpayers caught the governor general billing us thousands on absurdly extravagant and expensive trips that she should never have taken in the first place,” said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Taxpayers forced the governor general to cut spending following a scandal that included multiple committee testimonies and reports calling for spending restraint. But the governor general hiked travel costs once she thought taxpayers and members of Parliament weren’t looking.

“Now it’s time for MPs to take responsibility and cut wasteful spending at Rideau Hall.”

The Department of National Defence spent less on the governor general’s travel in 2023-24 during a scandal over her travel expenses, which included multiple parliamentary committee appearances. However, the governor general’s spending restraint was short-lived. The governor general’s travel costs increased the very next year.   

National Defence’s spending on Simon’s travel increased 21 per cent in 2024-25, records obtained by the CTF show.

Taxpayers paid $3 million in travel costs for the governor general through National Defence last year. Costs included personnel, equipment, transportation, meals and hotels, the department confirmed with the CTF.

Simon went on a cross-Canada tour in 2024-25. She visited art galleries, posed for “photo opportunities” and even hosted a symposium in support of internet regulation. The symposium promoted the Online Harms Act that was in the House of Commons, despite the fact that the governor general is mandated to stay neutral on partisan issues.

The governor general’s travel cost taxpayers more than $26 million in travel “support” from National Defence in the last seven years.

“It’s a good bet that most Canadians would rather the government spend money making sure the people protecting our country have clean water and proper equipment rather than wasting millions forcing National Defence to escort the governor general around the world,” Terrazzano said.

National Defence spent millions flying the governor general while many military members are stuck living in squalor, according to an auditor general report from October 2025.

The audit exposed “poor physical conditions” for Canada’s troops. They have broken toilets and broken walls. Even the water in many military quarters is unsafe to drink, according to the auditor general.

A lot of the governor general’s travel since she entered office was international.

One of Simon’s trips last year was a $227,000 visit to Paris, according to separate access-to-information records obtained by the CTF.

Some of Simon’s destinations were not disclosed, including a trip from Oct. 17 to 19, 2024, that cost $141,000. Simon’s office did not issue a standard press release for that trip.

“The governor general shouldn’t be allowed to bill Canadian taxpayers for one cent on travel to other countries other than responsibilities directly related to the monarchy,” Terrazzano said. “Taxpayers are already paying for an army of diplomats, we shouldn’t be forced to fund the governor general’s frivolous international travel.

“Taxpayers demand real action from the government to cut outrageous and unnecessary travel spending.”

The governor general’s $26 million tab racked up through National Defence is not the only travel taxpayers are paying for. That’s just one department’s spending.

The governor general incurs big costs through the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Global Affairs Canada and Canadian Heritage. For example, Canadian Heritage wasted $800,000 for the governor general’s trip to a book fair in Germany in 2021, the year Simon took office. The entire four-day event cost taxpayers $18 million.

The governor general continued to spend lavishly on international travel. Simon took a four-day trip to Iceland in 2022 that cost taxpayers $300,000, including $71,000 on limos.

That same year, Simon took a week-long trip to the Middle East that cost about $1 million, including about $100,000 for airplane food.

After the outrage over Simon’s sky-high tab on airplane food, MPs brought the governor general’s officials before committee. MPs called the governor general’s travel spending “absurd.” The government then conceded spending on the governor general’s travel was “problematic.”

In 2023, the committee recommended the government “review the practice of [the governor general’s] international travel with the goal of ensuring good value for money.”

National Defence spent about $2.5 million on travel in 2023-24, immediately following the governor general’s spending scandal and pressure from the parliamentary committee. That was a decline from earlier years. But that spending restraint only lasted one year. The very next year, National Defence’s spending on the governor general’s travel increased 21 per cent.