Federal government spent $19 billion on external consultants last year

OTTAWA — The federal government spent $19 billion on external consultants last year, despite a promise to cut back on its use of outside contractors.

The government’s audited financial statements for last year were released on Friday and they show the government spent almost $19.2 billion on external professional and special services in 2025-26.

That’s almost as much as the $19.5 billion spent the year before.

Organizations contracted by the government last year include Bell Canada, KPMG, Microsoft Canada Inc. and the City of Toronto.

The Liberals have been criticized for years over how much they spend on outside consulting and Prime Minister Mark Carney promised in his election platform to significantly reduce reliance on external consultants, while improving the capacity of the public service to hire expertise in-house.

In its budget, released last week, the federal government said it had already taken steps to reduce spending on external management and other consulting services by 20 per cent, in the hopes of reaching annual savings of $900 million by 2028-29.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2026.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press