Government executives were paid $201.5 million in bonuses in 2025 despite “barely pass(ing) their own test,” according to Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
The advocacy group obtained access to information records that showed the government handed out multiple bonuses, including a “bilingual bonus,” a “performance award” and “at risk pay,” among others, last year.
Most government executives take bonuses every year, and Public Services and Procurement Canada confirmed to CTF that roughly 88 per cent took one last year. This is despite the government’s own data showing that federal departments met just 54 per cent of their performance targets in 2024-25. The remaining targets were either not met, are to be achieved in the future, or data is not available.
“Bonuses are for when you go above and beyond, so why are most government executives taking bonuses every year when their departments can barely pass their own test?” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director, in the report .
“Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to end Ottawa’s entitlement culture because federal executives shouldn’t automatically get a bonus.”
An access to information request revealed that, in 2025, 15,898 of 18,041 executive employees received a bonus or other form of performance incentive, while 142,269 of 414,525 non-executive employees received one.
According to the records obtained by CTF, the $201.5 million in bonuses last year included 6,902 employees receiving a “bilingual bonus allowance” at a cost of $4 million, 9,173 employees receiving “at risk pay,” totalling $172 million, and 1,618 employees receiving a “performance award,” costing $24 million.
In total, federal bonuses have cost taxpayers about $2 billion since 2015, according to CTF.
Meanwhile, government data on departmental results shows that departments have not met or exceeded 55 per cent of targets since 2020 (the earliest year data is available for).
That said, the percentage of targets met has consistently improved over the years. In 202-21, 45 per cent of targets were met, and that figure has steadily climbed to reach 54 per cent last year.
The latest CTF report comes after it was revealed that Canada Post handed out $30.8 million in management bonuses in 2025, despite losing $1.57 billion that year.
The Crown corporation’s president and CEO, Doug Ettinger, defended the “at risk” bonus program during an appearance before a standing committee last month, saying that Canada Post has “cut a lot of costs on the management side. We’ve taken out more than 10 per cent from our management and executive.”
Elsewhere, Alto high-speed rail executives received more than $2 million in bonuses last year, despite construction yet to begin on a high-speed rail link along the Toronto-Quebec City corridor. The federal Crown corporation was created to oversee Ottawa’s high-speed rail project and is a wholly owned subsidiary of VIA Rail.
In June, a Parliamentary Budget Officer report projected that the federal bureaucracy’s costs would increase by more than $10 billion next year.
The report detailed that personnel expenses are expected to cost $69.2 billion in 2025-26, and will increase to $79.4 billion in 2026-27. By 2030, the report predicted personnel expenses reach $86 billion.
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