Federal spending on staff grew rapidly during pandemic: parliamentary budget officer

OTTAWA — The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government’s spending on employees saw record growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A newly published report says federal spending on personnel increased by almost 31 per cent between the 2019-20 and 2021-22 fiscal years. 

Spending on salaries, pensions and other employee compensation rose from $46.3 billion to $60.7 billion over that time period. 

The report says the public service expanded by the equivalent of 31,227 full-time employees between April 2020 and March 2022, with the government spending an average of 6.6 per cent more on each full-time worker.