‘It doesn’t make sense for taxpayers to pay bureaucrats to do a job and then pay consultants to do the same job’
The Privy Council Office (PCO) is facing criticism over its spending habits.
The office spent $5.8 million on consultants for communications, marketing, financial and strategy-related work in 2025 while employing about 320 staff in similar roles, according to new figures released by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).
The PCO – the central agency that supports the prime minister and cabinet – reported total professional services spending of $17,446,103 in 2025, based on access-to-information records obtained by the CTF. Professional and special services is a broad public accounts category covering federal government spending on consultants, contractors and outsourcing.
“The PCO already has hundreds of communications and research bureaucrats and then it spends millions getting consultants and contractors to do their homework,” said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the CTF. “It doesn’t make sense for taxpayers to pay bureaucrats to do a job and then pay consultants to do the same job.”
PCO’s spending on “professional and special services” rose from $9.6 million in 2015–16 to $36 million in 2024–25, according to the report. Over roughly the same period, the federal government’s overall spending in that category more than doubled.
The number of federal public servants earning more than $150,000 a year has surged over the past five years, according to figures released by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) in December 2025.
Contracts and external providers
According to the CTF’s analysis, the PCO spends about $40 million annually on staff whose functions overlap with the work being contracted out. That includes $8.5 million on communications staff, $526,000 on marketing and advertising roles and $28 million on research and analysis positions.
In addition to its in-house multimedia team, which costs nearly $1 million a year, the PCO spent $641,400 on audiovisual consulting services, the CTF said. The office also paid $5.8 million in 2025 for marketing, communications, financial and strategy-related consulting and contractors.
The CTF report states that the PCO spent $4.8 million on “advertizing services” from EssenceMediacom related to Canada’s trade agreements. EssenceMediacom describes its work as helping clients “understand the modern marketing paradox.”
Wellness, recognition expenditures
The PCO also paid $35,775 to Graybridge International Consulting Inc., which says on its website that “diversity is the ‘D’ in our DNA,” according to the CTF. In addition, the office spent $497,500 with a marketing firm that says it goes “beyond the surface to solve clients’ big, tangly problems.”
Spending detailed in the records extends beyond communications and consulting. The CTF says the PCO spent $386,700 on furniture and $136,290 at the Pan Pacific Toronto hotel.
The office paid $12,900 to a “Hatha Slow Flow Yoga teacher” whose studio is located nearly two hours by car from Ottawa. The CTF compared this with other options, noting that local classes at about $35 per person could have funded approximately 368 sessions, while $18 online classes could have provided about 716 sessions. Free online alternatives are also widely available, the group said.
The PCO paid $3,975 to a “supplier of licensed products such as coins, swords, plaques, crests, gift items, specialty embroidery and woven items.” Other line items cited by the CTF include $1,300 for a “productivity ninja,” $4,665 on art work, $20,400 at Ottawa Executive Limousine and $2,500 on professional caregivers.
“Why is the PCO spending thousands of dollars on yoga lessons?” Terrazzano said. “Spending $1,300 on a ‘productivity ninja’ didn’t make Ottawa more productive.”
During the last federal election, Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government would be “significantly reducing reliance on external consultants.” Despite that commitment, Main Estimates show federal spending on professional and special services is projected to reach $26.6 billion in 2026–27, according to the CTF.
The cost of the federal bureaucracy has also increased over the past decade. The CTF says the overall cost of the public service rose by 80 per cent between 2015 and 2024, with this year’s Main Estimates indicating a further five per cent increase over last year.
“The prime minister promised to cut this kind of wasteful spending and he needs to work harder to keep that promise,” Terrazzano said.
The Privy Council Office did not immediately respond to the CTF’s criticisms in the material released by the advocacy group.
HRD has not seen any statement from the Privy Council Office about this matter.
In Budget 2025, the government outlined plans to eliminate thousands of jobs over the next few years. Ottawa plans to eliminate roughly 40,000 federal positions by 2028-29 as part of broader fiscal restructuring.
