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 suggests that 54 per cent of respondents want the federal bureaucracy cut, 24 per cent want it maintained, four per cent want it increased and 17 per cent are unsure.
The poll, which was conducted online and can’t be assigned a margin of error, cited 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 gotten worse 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.
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.
