Atlantic Canada’s larger-than-average government workforce cost taxpayers an extra $2.7 billion in 2024

HALIFAX, NS, April 14, 2026 /CNW/ – Atlantic Canadian provincial and municipal government sectors were larger than the national average in 2024, which resulted in $2.7 billion in extra costs for taxpayers, finds a new report published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

“Larger government workforces mean a larger public sector wage bill for taxpayers,” said Ben Eisen, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-author of Measuring the Size and Cost of Atlantic Canada’s Government Workforce.

The study finds that across Canada, sub-national (provincial and municipal) government sector employees accounted for 18.4 per cent of all jobs in Canada in 2024. All four Atlantic provinces exceeded that percentage, with Newfoundland and Labrador at 26.5 per cent, followed by Prince Edward Island (22.5), Nova Scotia (22.3), and New Brunswick (20.4).

Measured on a per-capita basis, the four Atlantic provinces also exceeded the national average. Whereas the national average was 94 provincial and municipal employees per 1,000 residents, PEI and NL had 117, NS had 110 and NB had 97.

If Atlantic Canada’s provincial and municipal governments had employment levels that matched the national average, governments in the region would have spent $2.7 billion less in 2024 on employee compensation.

To put the additional cost of the region’s larger-than-average government sector in perspective, the total deficits in 2024 for all four Atlantic provinces was $2.9 billion.

“As a way to restore more sound fiscal management to the region, Atlantic Canadian policymakers should understand that their large government sectors are putting pressure on public finances and, ultimately, taxpayers,” Eisen said.

The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute’s independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org

SOURCE The Fraser Institute