From 2015 to 2024, the government sector in Canada–including federal, provincial and municipal–added 950,000 jobs, which accounted for roughly 30 per cent of total employment growth in the country, finds a new study published recently by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“In Canada, employment in the government sector has skyrocketed over the last 10 years,” said Jason Childs, a professor of economics at the University of Regina, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and author of Examining the Growth of Public-Sector Employment Since 2015.
Jason Childs
Over the same 10-year period (2015-2024), government-sector employment grew at an annual average rate of 2.7 per cent compared to only 1.7 per cent for the private-sector, said the Fraser Institute.
It said the study also examines employment growth by province. Government employment (federal, provincial, municipal) grew at a higher annual rate than the private sector in every province except Manitoba over the 10-year period.
The largest gaps between government-sector employment growth compared to the private sector were in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Quebec and British Columbia. The smallest gaps were in Alberta and Prince Edward Island, it said.
“The larger government’s share of employment, the greater the ultimate burden on taxpayers to support government workers–government does not pay for itself,” Childs said.
A related study (Measuring the Cost to Canadians from the Growth in Public Administration), also authored by Childs) finds that, from 2015 to 2024, across all levels of government in Canada, the number of public administrators (many of who work in government ministries, agencies and other offices that do not directly provide services to the public) grew by more than 328,000–or 3.5 per cent annually (on average).
“If governments want to reduce costs, they should look closely at the size of their public administration,” Childs said.
Mario Toneguzzi
Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Entrepreneur. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He was named in 2021 and 2024 as one of the top business journalists in the world by PR News. He was also named by RETHINK to its global list of Top Retail Experts 2024 and 2025.
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