VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 11, 2026 /CNW/ -- Canada has experienced a substantial, long-term increase in federal and provincial government spending on corporate welfare in recent years, culminating with $87.7 billion in spending in 2024, according to a new study published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

"Despite their current prevalence in Canada, research has consistently shown that corporate welfare is largely wasteful and generally fails to achieve its stated goals," said Alex Whalen, director of the Atlantic Canada Prosperity Initiative at the Fraser Institute and co-author of Eliminating Corporate Subsidies in Canada: An Opportunity to Boost Growth.

Federal and provincial spending on corporate subsidies increased substantially from 2007 to 2024 (the most recent year of available comparable data from Statistics Canada). Between 2007 and 2015, spending on subsidies increased by 12.8 per cent: a jump from $22.2 billion to $25.1 billion (in inflation-adjusted dollars).

More recently, the increase has escalated. From 2015 until 2019, spending on corporate subsidies increased by 44.2 per cent.  Following the COVID-19 pandemic, spending on corporate subsidies increased such that by 2024 the inflation-adjusted level of spending stood at $87.7 billion—more than triple the level observed in 2015.

This increased government spending on corporate subsidies occurred during a period of economic stagnation and, consequentially, has created a renewed interest in policies that can actually drive economic growth.

"The massive recent increase in government spending on corporate welfare should concern all Canadians. It's wasteful spending at the expense of Canadian taxpayers and places government in the position of picking favoured businesses. Better policies exist to drive economic growth," said Whalen.

"Even after accounting for both inflation and population, spending on corporate subsidies increased in every province and at the federal level between 2015 and 2024."

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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