The federal department that supports the prime minister, cabinet members and which is often at the heart of Ottawa’s machinations, spent millions of dollars on outside consultants for communications, marketing and research work last year despite employing hundreds of staff to do that work, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
The Privy Council Office (PCO) is the latest government department to draw criticism from the organization, which contends Mark Carney’s Liberal government continues to rely too heavily on contractors at a time when he promised to address “wasteful spending.”
Based on access-to-information records it obtained, the CTF said the PCO spent close to $17.5 million on “professional services” in 2025, $5.8 million of which went to “marketing, communications, financial and strategy-related consulting and contractors,” despite the office having a roughly $40 million budget to compensate “about 320 staff employed in similar roles.”
Of that $5.8 million, at least $3.1 million was paid on a multi-departmental advertising contract to EssenceMediacom, a global brand under the WPP Media Banner, for work
on various Canadian trade agreements
between last August and the end of March.
CTF also found that an audiovisual consulting service was contracted for $641,400, while the PCO was already spending close to $1 million a year on in-house multimedia staff.
Other firms which CTF said PCO paid in 2025 include Atlantic Canada-based marketing agency M5 ($497,500) and Graybridge International Consulting Inc. ($35,775), which specializes in designing and delivering courses and workshops for working professionals.
CTF also took the PCO to task for its spending “beyond communications and consulting services,” highlighting $386,700 on furniture, $136,290 at the Pan Pacific Toronto hotel (now the Crowne Plaza Toronto – North York), and $12,900 on a Yoga teacher based outside of Montreal.
CTF argued that comparable classes could have been found locally or online for less cost, and possibly free on YouTube.
Other spending listed by CTF included $3,975 for a supplier of licensed products such as coins, swords, plaques and crests; $4,665 on artwork; $20,400 at Ottawa Executive Limousine; $2,500 on professional caregivers; and $1,300 to Ottawa-based consultant Wisdom Streak, operated by self-described ”productivity ninja-meets-life coach-meets-executive assistant” Maddie Morris.
“Spending $1,300 on a ‘productivity ninja’ didn’t make Ottawa more productive,” Terrazzano stated.
“The PCO already has hundreds of communications and research bureaucrats and then it spends millions getting consultants and contractors to do their homework,” CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano said in
.
“It doesn’t make sense for taxpayers to pay bureaucrats to do a job and then pay consultants to do the same job.”
As one of the federal government’s most central institutions, the
serves as the public service department in support of Carney, his ministers and various cabinet committees. It also helps coordinate government policy, provides non-partisan advice, manages senior public service leadership and is often involved in government-wide priorities, strategic planning and communications tied to major files.
It’s currently headed by the Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Sabia and Deputy Clerk Isabelle Mondou.
National Post has contacted the PCO for comment.
As part of the Liberals’
Canada Strong election platform
last year, Carney promised a “comprehensive review of government spending” that could include “Significantly reducing reliance on external consultants, while improving the capacity of the public service to hire expertise in-house.”
When the
was tabled last October, Ottawa pledged to reduce expenses on management and other consulting services by 20 per cent in three years’ time “in order to reduce wasteful spending and empower the public service to take on more responsibility and accountability.”
But broader federal spending trends suggest that it may be difficult to achieve quickly, according to CTF, which said the PCO’s spending on “professional and special services” — which includes consultants, contractors and outsourced work — has risen from $9.6 million in the
to $36 million in
.
Moreover, the CTF said Ottawa’s overall spending across all departments more than doubled over that time and is estimated to hit
.
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