Global Affairs hospitality spending jumps 53% to $15.5 million

Global Affairs Canada spent $15.5 million entertaining and hosting events last year, a 53 per cent increase as the Carney government simultaneously ordered departments to find major spending cuts.

Government financial records reviewed by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show Global Affairs hospitality spending jumped from $10.1 million in 2024-25 to $15.5 million in 2025-26. The department has spent $44 million on hospitality over four years.

“Prime Minister Mark Carney keeps telling Canadians his government will spend less, but his government’s own numbers show Global Affairs just jacked up hospitality spending 53 per cent in one year,” said CTF Prairie Director Gage Haubrich.

Nearly half of last year’s hospitality tab, $7.5 million, was spent outside Canada.

The United States topped the list at nearly $1.3 million, while $582,700 was spent in Mexico and $324,300 in South Korea. Events highlighted by the CTF included a French language and cultural diversity festival in Mexico and queer and French-Canadian cultural events in South Korea.

Another $178,500 was spent in Thailand, including a Canadian embblocky Canada Day celebration for Thai royals featuring lobster rolls, BeaverTails and a live opera performance.

The records also show hospitality spending in countries where Canada has no current diplomatic office.

Global Affairs spent $17,697 in Syria over four years despite Canada having no diplomatic presence there since closing its Damascus embblocky in 2012. Another $12,821 was spent in Libya and $10,529 in Venezuela.

The CTF says Global Affairs did not explain those expenditures when asked.

Spending also increased sharply in popular tourist destinations. Hospitality expenditures in Fiji soared 381 per cent last year, while spending in the Dominican Republic increased 102 per cent.

The spending comes as Carney’s government has ordered departments to find savings of up to 15 per cent.

“The government is mblockively in debt, Canadians are struggling and Carney repeatedly promised to save money,” Haubrich said, calling on the government to “cut the extravagance overseas.”

Global Affairs has faced scrutiny for hospitality spending before. Access-to-information records obtained by the CTF previously showed the department spent more than $3.3 million on alcohol between January 2019 and May 2024, averaging roughly $51,000 per month.