Government spends $19 billion on external services, despite vow to trim spending

By Canadian Press on November 13, 2025.

OTTAWA — Government records show the federal government spent more than $19 billion on external professional and special services in 2024-25 — an increase of almost $2 billion since last year and of about $8.5 billion since 2020.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat says the increase in spending on professional and special services is largely due to higher spending on engineering and architectural services for things like shipbuilding, health services to support refugee claimants and specialized air force pilot and aircrew personnel training.

Government records show the government spent $23.1 billion on professional and special services during the last fiscal year, with around $19.5 billion of that sum going to external organizations.

Prime Minister Mark Carney promised during the election campaign to cut government spending by, among other things, “significantly reducing reliance on external consultants, while improving the capacity of the public service to hire expertise in-house.”

The Liberal government has been criticized for years over how much it spends on consulting and Auditor General Karen Hogan reported last year that poor record-keeping and reliance on outside contractors allowed the cost of the ArriveCAN pandemic app to balloon to almost $60 million.

The app was launched in 2020 and the government’s public accounts show that it spent $11 billion on external professional and special services in 2019-20.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2025.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press