More than half of Canadians want cuts to the federal public service: poll

OTTAWA — More than half of Canadians think the size and cost of the federal public service should be reduced in the coming years, a new Leger poll suggests.

The poll indicates that 54 per cent of respondents want the federal bureaucracy cut, 24 per cent want it maintained and four per cent say it should get bigger. The poll suggests 17 per cent of respondents were not sure what should happen.

The poll, which was conducted online and can’t be assigned a margin of error, cites federal records that indicate the government has added almost 99,000 employees since 2016 and personnel costs have increased by more than 70 per cent.

Conducted by Leger for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the poll suggests that half of Canadians say the quality of federal services has declined since 2016.

Almost a quarter of Canadians polled say they believe the quality of services has remained stagnant, while 11 per cent say those services have improved and 16 per cent are unsure.

While Prime Minister Mark Carney promised during the election campaign to cap — not cut — the size of the public service, most departments and agencies have since been asked to find program spending cuts of up to 15 per cent by 2028-29.

A recent report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said the public service could shed almost 60,000 jobs over the next four years as Ottawa looks to cut costs.

Andrew Enns, Leger’s executive vice-president for Central Canada, told The Canadian Press that the poll is timely given the planned fall budget and “noise” from the federal government about looking at the size of the public service.

He said the poll suggests there is a widespread belief among Canadians that the civil service is “on the large side” and needs to shrink.

Enns also said Canadians don’t feel they’re getting great value in exchange for the increase in the size of the public service and there’s a strong sense that “something has to happen.”

The poll suggests that Quebecers and Albertans are most strongly in favour of reducing the size and cost of the public service, at 62 and 61 per cent. Half of Ontarians and 53 per cent of people in B.C. also said they’d like to see a reduction.

Just over a third of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 said they’d like to see a reduction in the size and cost of the public service, compared to almost half of people aged 35 to 54 and 71 per cent of those aged 55 and older.

Enns said those older voters, who played a large role in Carney’s election win, are “pretty strongly convinced” the public service is too large and isn’t performing as it should.

“In that sense, the argument is probably even stronger for the government to take some action here,” Enns said.

Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said the size of the federal bureaucracy has “ballooned” since 2016 and the cost to taxpayers has gone “extremely high.”

He said the polling shows that a bigger public service doesn’t equate to better services for taxpayers.

“The government has to cut spending and the government has to shrink the cost and size of its bloated bureaucracy,” Terrazzano said, adding that his organization will continue to push for spending cuts.

Arguing that “the government is broke,” Terrazzano pointed out that Carney promised to balance the operating budget in the recent election and that interest charges on the federal debt are costing taxpayers.

“Prime Minister Mark Carney, he should look at these polling numbers, he should listen to Canadians and he should know that Canadians support cutting the size and cost of Ottawa’s bureaucracy,” he said.

The polling industry’s professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2025.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press