The following op-ed by PIPSC President Sean O’Reilly was published in the Ottawa Citizen on Dec 18, 2025.
Six weeks after the federal government unveiled Budget 2025, its implications for the public service are becoming clearer and more troubling.
At the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, we’ve heard from members that fighting outsourcing remains a top priority.
During the spring election, the Liberals promised to reduce the government’s reliance on external consultants, but it’s obvious that the budget moves Canada in the opposite direction. What was pitched as a plan for discipline, modernization and efficiency is instead accelerating a decade-long shift toward outside consultants and away from in-house expertise.
Rather than strengthening the public service, the federal government has chosen once again to double down on outsourcing — the practice of hiring private consultants to do work the public service can and should be doing. This is a bad habit that’s been quietly draining billions of dollars from federal coffers for years, all while weakening the very systems Canadians rely on.
Budget 2025 even claims it will “cut back” on private consultants, but the government’s own numbers tell a different story. Outsourcing has doubled since pre-pandemic levels, and spending on professional services is projected to hit $26.1 billion this year — a 37 per cent increase from last year and a record high.
Even if the government somehow achieves its promised 20 cent reduction, outsourcing would still be roughly double what it was a decade ago. Private contractors cost taxpayers up to 26 per cent more than public servants.
It’s not even close. At best, it’s a premium price tag for duplication, delay and dependency. At worst, it weakens the very systems Canadians rely on, such as food safety, emergency response, digital security and environmental protection.
The budget makes matters worse by cutting around 30,000 public service jobs in addition to about 10,000 that were lost last year. Replacing skilled, permanent staff with contractors isn’t efficiency — it’s erosion. Fewer public servants and more outsourcing will leave departments stretched thin, less resilient, and increasingly dependent on private-sector firms to perform core government functions.
We’ve seen this play out before. Phoenix was sold as a cost-saving reform and became one of the largest administrative failures in federal history. Billions were wasted. ArriveCAN began as a modest digital contract and ballooned into a $60-million fiasco. Both were built by outside firms. Both continue to cost Canadians.
Contrast that with what happened when emergency struck during the COVID-19 pandemic: it was public servants — not consultants — who designed and delivered the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) system in just six weeks. There were no million-dollar contracts, no glossy branding and no chaos. That’s what real efficiency looks like.
If the government wants to balance the books, it should reduce contractor waste before cutting scientists, analysts and inspectors. Build capacity before buying another quick fix. Canadians want a government that works for them — not one that looks “efficient” on paper while paying more to get less.
If we want real results, we need to look at who’s actually doing the work. It’s not consultants in corporate boardrooms; it’s the public servants in labs, offices, and control rooms who keep the country running.
Budget 2025 was a chance to rebuild public capacity and chart a smarter, self-reliant course. Instead, it repeats the mistakes of previous governments.
Outsourcing doesn’t make government leaner — it makes it weaker. You can’t cut your way to competence, and you can’t outsource efficiency.