{
  "id": 19198363,
  "title": "Federal government spent $19 billion on external consultants last year",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/federal-government-spent-19-billion-on-external-consultants-last-year",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-09T19:14:58.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Winnipeg Free Press",
    "slug": "winnipeg-free-press",
    "url": "https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/2026/11/09/federal-government-spent-19-billion-on-external-consultants-last-year"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The federal government spent $19 billion on external consultants in the 2025-26 fiscal year, according to audited financial statements released on Friday. This expenditure is nearly identical to the $19.5 billion spent in the previous year. The government contracted organizations such as Bell Canada, KPMG, Microsoft Canada Inc., and the City of Toronto for professional and special services. Prime Minister Mark Carney had pledged to reduce reliance on external consultants and improve the public service's ability to hire expertise in-house. The federal government has taken steps to cut spending on external management and consulting services by 20%, aiming to achieve annual savings of $900 million by 2028-29.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}