Feds Plan to Spend $2.2 Billion More on Consultants: Parliamentary Budget Office

Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux waits to appear before the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance in Ottawa on Oct. 25, 2022. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Federal spending on consultants will jump 13 percent this year as the Liberal government intends to pay more for their services, according to a report by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).

“The Government is proposing to raise planned spending on professional & special services to $19.5 billion, an increase of $2.2 billion (13 percent) from last year’s Main Estimates,” said the report, titled “The Government’s Expenditure Plan and Main Estimates for 2023–24.”