Prime Minister Mark Carney's approach to managing Canada's public service has raised questions about sustainability. During the recent federal election, Carney promised to "cap, not cut, public service employment." However, he later shifted his stance, suggesting that the federal bureaucracy would be reduced "naturally through attrition," which entails not replacing employees who leave due to retirement or resignation.

Procurement Minister Joel Lightbound added that there would be "adjustments" to the civil service, echoing similar language used by Finance Minister Philippe Champagne prior to Carney's announcement. This change in terminology has led to confusion regarding the government's actual plans for the public service.

Examining the data reveals significant growth in the federal bureaucracy. From 2015 to 2024, under Justin Trudeau's Liberal government, the number of federal employees surged by 43%, increasing from 257,034 to 367,772. This rise of 110,738 employees far exceeds the 15% growth in Canada's population during the same period, which increased from 35,606,734 to 41,012,563. Additionally, total employment in Canada grew by 15.5%, while employment across all levels of government rose by 25.5%.

Peter Nicholson, a former senior federal public servant, highlighted these figures in a policy paper for the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan. He noted that by 2024, the ratio of federal public servants per 1,000 population reached its highest level in at least 40 years, at 9.0.

The financial implications of this growth are also concerning. Canada's parliamentary budget officer reported in 2023 that the total cost of a full-time equivalent position in the federal public service, which includes salaries, pensions, and benefits, rose by 7.7% from $126,634 in 2022-23 to $136,345 in 2023-24. This increase is the largest seen in any year since 2006-07.

While some of the growth in the size and cost of the bureaucracy can be attributed to the pandemic, that event occurred five years ago. Since then, the federal bureaucracy has continued to expand annually, until a recent reduction of 9,807 positions in March 2025, bringing the total to 357,965. This marked the first annual decrease in a decade, yet it still represents an increase of nearly 40% since 2015.

Overall, Carney faces significant challenges in reducing the size of the federal bureaucracy if the government aims to achieve long-term financial sustainability.