The explosion in the number of public sector employees is costing taxpayers

• 55 per cent of new jobs created in Quebec since 2019 are in the public sector.

Montreal, March 10, 2026 – Since 2019, the majority of new jobs created in Quebec are public sector jobs. This trend raises significant challenges for public finances, shows a new analysis published by the MEI.

Between 2019 and today, 431,200 jobs were created in Quebec, excluding the self-employed. Of this number, 237,300 are public sector jobs, which is 55.0 per cent of all new jobs.

The private sector, for its part, created 193,900, representing 45.0 per cent of the total, according to Statistics Canada data.

“More than one of every two new jobs now comes from the public sector,” says Gabriel Giguère, senior policy analyst at the MEI. “That is not balanced growth, but a sustained expansion of the bureaucracy, and as usual, it’s taxpayers who end up stuck with the bill.”

The Quebec situation stands out compared to the rest of the country.

Since 2019, 31.3 per cent of new jobs created in Ontario are in the public sector. In Canada as a whole, excluding Quebec, the proportion is 36.0 per cent.

The explosion of the public workforce exerts direct pressure on public finances, notes the researcher. In Quebec, spending related to remuneration will reach $64 billion in 2025-2026, which represents 40.9 per cent of portfolio spending, according to the data from the Conseil du Trésor.

In Ottawa, spending on remuneration reached $71.4 billion in 2024-2025, an increase of 30.5 per cent since 2019, in constant dollars.

This sustained growth at all levels of government contributes to growing deficits and increases the public debt burden, as can be seen in the budgets of Quebec and Canada, which feature record deficits.

“A public sector that keeps growing without end winds up focused on its own expansion rather than on improving services,” concludes Mr. Giguère. “If more employees automatically guaranteed more efficiency, taxpayers would see it, but the bill is increasing faster than results are.”

You can read the MEI Viewpoint by clicking here.

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The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.

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